Journey Through Spira
by zutarafn1
Summary: My names Sanako,this is my story.You’ve heard this from my boyfriend Tidus now its my turn.I've become a guardian just like him to protect my best friends cousin.Listen to my story.This may be our last chance.Rating moved from K to T for certain themes
1. Zanarkand

Okay, the other day I got this great idea, what if I put myself into the world of Final Fantasy X. My cousin and siblings thought it was good idea. So I thought, what the heck, I'll do it! Now if you like it or not, I am still going to post chapter after chapter and just see where it goes. I wrote the first chapter last night and I need your opinion. Is it good or bad? Too long? Too short? Constructive criticism would be very helpful. I made up a name for myself instead of using my real name, which I will tell you. It is Tyler. Not very Spiran sounding to me, but that is besides the point! On with the show!*final fantasy victory fanfare*

I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters and or worlds. I just own my own character and my adventures. I also do not own the dialogue to this game. All though I kept some of the original words, but tweaked it a bit.

Oh yeah! The way you pronounce my name is: Sanako, (Sa-knock-o). For my nickname: Sana, (San-a). Hope that helps! Enjoy!

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Journey Through Spira

Zanarkand

My name's Sanako and this is my story. You've already heard this from my close friend Tidus, but it's my turn to talk now. I have become a guardian just like him and the others to protect my best friends' cousin. Listen to my story. This may be our last chance.

Zanarkand. Such a beautiful city and my home. I was one of the first of the few Al Bhed groups that came into existence to live there. Everyone got a long with another, every race did. Spiran, Yevonites, Guado, well you know what I'm getting at. I am 17 and on my own. My parents died about 2-3 years ago. I don't really mind being by myself. All though it can be lonely at times. I thought it was just a regular night like always, but things can happen. I looked at my wristwatch.

"Shoot! I'm late!" I ran as fast as I could. Tidus was a good friend of mine, not to mention the star of the Zanarkand Abes. I was supposed to meet him at his house before the games started at 7:40. And it was 7:20. The stadium was a good distance away too. "Please still be there." I arrived at his place and there were a few fans there. I looked around and saw the familiar spikey blonde hair. I pushed through the people and fell. I looked in front of me and saw familiar black and yellow boots.

"I was wondering what was keeping you Sanako." he helped me off the ground, and then proceeded to ruffle my dirty blonde hair. I stared at him with my swirly green Al Bhed eyes and crossed my arms.

"I'm not 4 Ti." I pouted. He laughed at my face. I blushed.

"So why were you late?" I kicked a few pebbles on the ground shyly.

"Well, I was gonna wait to give you this after the Abes won, but I can give it to you now." I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a red box. I blushed hard afraid of what he would think. True be told, I think that I am falling in love with the blitzer, but I don't want to ruin our friendship though. We have been friends since we were like five. Besides, I don't know what he even thinks of me. "I hope that it," I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. "Uh brings you good luck." I watched him open it and take out the charm. It was a small blitzball with golden wings. His face lit up.

"Thanks Sanako! I love it." He immediately clipped it to a belt loop. "Hey Sana, what time is it?"

"7:30! We gotta go!" Tidus grabbed my hand and we ran full speed to reach the stadium. "Sorry I made you late!" we were close enough to the stadium that we could slow to a walk.

"No biggie. Usually I don't show up until it has already started. You're helping me to make progress!" I laughed.

"Duu Vihho!"(Too funny). I punched him playfully on the shoulder. I had taught him a little Al Bhed. It my come in use for him one day. "We'd better hurry. It's about to start." He nodded.

"When I score a goal, I'll do this okay?" he made "L's" with his hands. "Do it back so I can find you." He took one of my hands and made it do the "L" shape. I nodded. He took my hand and we ran the rest of the way we tried to push our way through the ever-growing crowd of Tidus fans. "Don't let go!" he shouted. It was growing harder to hang on.

"I can't- Ti!" our fingers slipped out of each other reach. "I'll see you after the game! I promise!" the crowd pushed him towards the entrance.

"Okay!" he put the "L's" in the air. I did the same. Eventually I made it to my seat, waiting for the game to start. I was excited. Tidus told me he was going to attempt the Jetch shot. For unexplained reasons he hated his father. I never asked him about, it was none of my business anyway.

The game was full of action. The Zanarkand Abes vs. The Duggles from C south. The Abes were leading 9-5. Tidus made a goal and did the "L" symbol. And I stood up and returned the gesture. He saw me, waved, and went back to playing. I watched him begin to attempt the Famous Jetch shot. He shot out of the water and I saw his expression change. He saw something. I looked to the sky, there was a giant dome, and people began to freak out. I tried to make my way to him, but I got pushed towards the entrance, then all the sudden the stadium began to crumble. I found myself hanging on the edge and my fingers slipped. I screamed, knowing I was plunging to my death.

"Uggghhh…" I put my hand to my head and felt that I was bleeding badly. At least I was alive. It was hard to move and my body ached all over. My vision was a little blurry.

"Sanako!" I heard a familiar voice. I used what little strength I had to sit up. He was running towards me, not as scratched up as I was. Thank goodness for that. I don't know what I'd do if I had lost him.

"Ti!" he helped me up. I latched onto him and hugged him tightly. He did the same to me. Pools welled in my eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"Sana! You're bleeding! It had begun to run down the side of my face.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch. We need to get out of here!" He agreed and we turned to leave and saw a familiar face. We both shouted at the same time. "Auron!" We ran over to the dark haired man. I took his hand, still afraid of my surroundings. Tidus squeezed my hand, understanding my extreme fearfulness.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the man in dark glasses. Auron coughed slightly then spoke.

"I was waiting for you two." He walked away.

"What are you talking about!?" I shouted. We followed Auron. Tidus ran to catch up to Auron and I followed suit, but I tripped and Tidus stopped to help me. All of the sudden Time froze.

"It begins." A small child stood at my side clad in weird clothing and I couldn't see his face. At least I think it was a boy.

"What?"

"Don't cry. This is your story." I still lay on ground. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, the child had disappeared. Time unfroze. Tidus helped me up.

"Come on!" we caught up to Auron. He pointed to the sky. Ti and I looked up. The giant blob was still there.

"What is it?" I asked Auron. He looked at Tidus and me.

"We called it SIN." All of the sudden monsters flew from said "SIN" and landed in front of us. Auron called them "SINSPAWN". Whatever that meant. Tidus stood in front me, shielding me from the monsters. Auron gave him a sword from Jetch. How was that possible? Jetch died 10 years ago. Then Auron gave me a set of daggers from Jetch as well.*they kind of look like Rikku's from X-2, but they have roses on them. the stem wraps around the blade and near the top is a red rose* Jetch was sorta like a mentor to me. He taught me how to survive. Then I became friends with his son. We fought off the monsters and then blew them up with a device Auron told us to attack. Tidus and I ran and grabbed a hold of the raising and crumbling bridge. Auron took Tidus and held him by his shirt. He said something inaudible to my ears and I saw Tidus disappear in front of my eyes. A few tears leaked out onto my cheeks. I was even more afraid now that my friend was gone. Auron grabbed the front of my jacket and seemed to speak to SIN.

"Her too? You're sure?" then he spoke to me. "Are you ready?" I tried to get his fingers to release his hold on my jacket, my limbs flailing everywhere.

"Uggghhh! Auron! What are you talking about?

"This is your story." I was shrouded in a bright white light. The next thing I knew. I was in place with lots of sand and it was hot. I lifted my head up, but I lost the smidge of consciousness I was holding onto and everything went dark.

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So what did you think? Please review and let me know if you like it, hate it, or you think you know where i ended up. i dare you to take a guess! and the rating may change later from k+ to T because of language and other strong themes, like violence.


	2. Bikanel Island

Okay, one quick detail before we get started. I get transported 1000 years into the future just like Tidus, but I get transported 3 days before Tidus will show up if that makes any sense. (If you have questions, send'm to me and I'll try to clear them up for you) Just wanted to clear that up so you don't get mad saying: "Why weren't you there right when the Al Bhed were picking him up!?" On with the chapter! *final fantasy victory fanfare*

One more thing. This chapter is in two parts, may change to one later.

Bikanel Island

I awoke a few hours later and luckily, it was still daylight where I had landed. I felt something really gritty and unpleasant in my mouth. I quickly got up and was like animal on all fours. "PPPbbbttt!!!" I spit out a mouthful of sand. I needed to find some water to rinse out my mouth and cool off in this extreme heat. I got up, making sure I could stand. Then I went on my way, in search of water and shade. I might even possibly find some food too. Around 3 hours later, I sat down in the sand and rested. I laid back and closed my eyes to protect them from the sun. Luckily, being an Al Bhed, I was naturally tan and my sunburn didn't hurt that much.

"Oh my Yevon! It's hotter than freaking machine blazes out here!" I yelled, thankfully in nobody's hearing range. I wiped the sweat off my face with my sleeve and then went ahead and tied my jacket around my waist, rested for 5 more minutes, then continued my search. Eventually, I found a large Oasis or not. Damn mirage! I became fatigued from walking so much and from the wound on my right temple. I put my hand over my eyes and saw something. It was about 50 feet away and it was a sand mobile of some kind. I couldn't hang on to consciousness any longer and passed out from heat exhaustion. Later on, I heard bits and pieces of a conversation.

"I… in desert." Said a girl's voice.

"We…outsiders…no I…ku." A man said.

"But pops…us…she's…Al…"

"Hmmm…in that case…all…then take…to room." Then I couldn't register anything else, falling into a deep sleep. I awoke a few hours later in a dark room. I sat up rubbing my eyes. I spoke aloud to myself. "Thank Yevon. It was just a dream, but how did I get home? At least I am home." The next thing I knew the lights flicked on. It hadn't been a dream and I wasn't home or in my own bed. I was in someone else's. It was another Al Bhed girl. I figured that I would have to speak in my native tongue, but she spoke in clear Spiran.

"Oh good!" she clapped her hands together. "You're awake!" I studied the girl. She looked about two years younger. The girl wore an orange shirt, green shorts, and no shoes at the present moment. I couldn't help but notice her feet were a little on the dirty side. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and two braids with feathers at the ends. Her bangs hung into her face. We both had the same skinny but muscular build. She also seemed to have a certain bubbly quality to her. I could tell that she was studying me just as hard. My hair had been flipped out and to the middle of my neck, but it was damp and now seemed longer. I sported a tight white shirt with buckle straps and a blue jacket with stripped sleeves, which was now draped over a chair. I work black shorts with the Zanarkand symbol on them, similar to Tidus'. My shoes, black high-tops, had been placed beside the bed. My outfit I guess you could say was a mix between Al Bhedian and Zanarkand. I still wanted to stay connected to my heritage. It's a part of who I am. The young girl came over and sat at the foot of the bed, crossed legged, getting the clean white sheets dirty from her feet. I guess you could say I like cleanliness. "How did I get-"

"I came across you in the desert. You wouldn't have lasted much longer in that heat. You know, I haven't seen you here around home," she quickly looked at her fingernails, then back at me, "I asked around and no one else knows who you are either, even though you're an Al Bhed." I proceeded to tell her of my origins and where I was from and about being one of the first Al Bhed. When I finished, she seemed unscathed by my story. Then she said something that made my heart skip a beat.

"You can't have been at a blitzball game or living there for that matter. It was destroyed 1000 years ago." How can that be? I've been sent 1000 years into the future?

"What I don't-"

"You probably don't remember because of SIN'S toxin. As for Zanarkand, you were right about SIN destroying it, but it's considered a holy place. Don't let any of the Guado or Yevonites hear you talk about it. Especially since, you're Al Bhed. It's okay to talk about at Home because we don't believe it." True. I don't believe in it and neither did Tidus when we were in Zanarkand.

"Why does it matter if I'm Al Bhed, everyone gets along don't they?" maybe I did go into the future. When I asked this, the girl seemed to lose her upbeat attitude.

""Well, you said in your story that every race got along, but that's not the case here. We- Al Bhed are blamed for SIN coming about. They say it's because the Al Bhed use machina. I thought everyone knew that. You must have gotten excessively close to SIN." Had I really got too close? I was more than positive that I was telling the truth. I had to prove to her that I was from the past, but how? "I'm Rikku by the way." She smiled brightly.

"Sanako," I shook her hand. "But you can call me Sana if you like." I smile back. What can I do to convince her? I watched Rikku stand up and put her hands on her hips. She thought for a moment and then spoke.

"Why don't we patch you up huh?" I got up and followed her to the bathroom and I sat down on toilet. I watched Rikku rummage through her cabinet for the bandages and what else she needed. She cleaned the dried blood delicately. Occasionally I would look at her face and she seemed so gentle, unphased by anything. Yet to have a care in the world about what was to become of her. I wish I could be that way, I couldn't anymore. I had to figure out how to get home. The silence was killing me. I started a conversation.

"So Rikku, how old are you?" she put the bloody tissues in the wastebasket. She waited a moment to respond, after grabbing the gauze and bandage tape. She patched up my wound and then sat down on the side of the tub. I saw her turn a bright red.

"I'm- 15."She swung her legs back and forth. Was she embarrassed about her age? Was she trying to impress me? "How old are you?" the color was coming back to her face.

"I'm 17."

"Oh." She seemed disappointed. I stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at me. I assured her that because of her age, I wouldn't leave her for an older friend. She nodded understanding. I hopped up and sat on the edge of the sink. "Sana, do you have any siblings?" I shook my head and smiled with my eyes closed.

"Uh-uh. I'm an only child. My parents died 2-3 years ago while they were on an expedition in the Calm Lands. A bandit killed them when they wouldn't give up their money." I looked over at her. She looked sympathetic. "It's okay though, my friend Tidus takes care of me." I jumped off the sink. "Tidus!" tears began to form in my eyes. I sped out of the bathroom and Rikku followed.

"Who's Tidus?" I ignored her question for a few moments. I tried to find my shoes and jacket, even though they were in plain sight, my tears blurred my vision. I finally gave up, sat down the bed, and began to cry profusely. Rikku sat next to me and rubbed my back. I talked through sobs.

"He's one of my dear- friends." I didn't care if she didn't believe me, I spoke about Zanarkand again. "He also comes from Zanarkand like me. We were- separated on our journey here." I continued to cry. Would I ever see him again? Would I ever get to tell- tell him how I really felt? I felt my new friend hug me tightly while I cried. She waited patiently for me to finish. "Thanks Ku. If you don't mind me calling you that?" she patted my back.

"No problem and I like that. Ku. It's got a certain ring to it." She jumped off the bed suddenly. "I just got a really good idea! In two days, I have to pilot a salvage mission at Baja temple. Maybe I can get my dad to let you come with me and my team! Maybe you could find your friend!" she bounced happily. I stood up and nodded wildly. That sounded good to me. Of course, it was a 1 in a million chance that I'd find him, but it's worth a try. All of the sudden or stomachs growled. We both busted up laughing and Ku linked an arm with mine. "Why don't we go get something to eat in the dining hall?"

"Sounds good to me!" I love to eat and apparently, she eats as much as I do. On our way to the hall, Rikku told me all about Home, how the Al Bhed were scattered, and that I was on Bikanel Island. She told me I couldn't tell anyone about it because it was a secret. She told me everything she knew to refresh my memory, but only I knew that I hadn't lost my memory at all.

"You pick up your tray here and you pick up your food there." She picked up her tray and turned back to me. "Oh! I almost forgot, no one else other than me, my dad, and you speak Spiran. Well, Gippal does, but only when he's at the Machine Faction. Anyway, you'll have to speak in Al Bhed unless you're with me, my dad, or Gippal." I nodded. Then we got our food and I followed her to a table full of guys. "Re kioc, drec ec Sanako." (Hi guys, this is Sanako.) It's no wonder. Rikku doesn't have hardly friends that are girls. That's why she was embarrassed. I laughed and she looked at me. " Fryd yna oui myokrehk yd Sana?"(What are you laughing at Sana?)

"Oui." I chuckled, as she turned pink. We pretended to argue and then the whole table laughed and carried on. I enjoyed sitting at that table. Then one man in purple and an eye patch was Gippal, the small boy was Shinra, Buddy sat next to Rikku, Keyyaku was the one in yellow and the one that kept making passes and flirt invites was Brother, age 20, Rikku's brother. He sat across from Rikku and she kicked his shin a couple of times. I sat next to Rikku. I wondered where her father was, so we could talk to him, but I figured it best to wait until Rikku talked to him. Rikku and I finished and we began walking back to her room. "Uggghhh. I'm so full." I stretched and walked with my hands behind my head.

"I know what you mean. You never go hungry here. You always eat well, no matter the time of day." She paused. "I got you a room. It's right across from mine." She began waving her hands back and forth really fast. "It's not like I'm afraid to be alone or anything I just-"I grabbed her neck and gave her a small noogie. Then I let go.

"I understand. Don't ever worry about what people think. Just be yourself, because what do people know except for everything, but themselves?" she seemed to brighten up at my statement. "It's okay to-to be scared." I stopped and sat down, leaning against the metal wall by my room. Rikku sat next to me. I felt her rest her head on my right shoulder. "Even I get scared. I'm afraid to be alone, to not know what it's like to feel things. Pain, hate, jealousy, sadness. All of those things." I put my head back and stared at the ceiling. There was a moment of silence.

"Do you think deep like this all the time?" I didn't reply right away.

"Believe it or not, my thoughts get deeper." I chuckled lightly. "Hey Ku," she sat up. "I think we should get some rest. "She agreed. She showed me how to get in the rooms with the key cards and where some pajamas that would fit me were. She also said that I would have to be fitted for clothes tomorrow. I couldn't go around in my dirty ones forever! Rikku quickly brought my jacket and my shoes to my room. We said our good night to one another and she went to her own room. I found a pair of black pajama shorts and I stripped to my black tank top that showed part of my belly. I very sleepily climbed into bed. That night, I couldn't help, but dream about Tidus.

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"SANAKO!" the blast of the speaker blared and startled me to the point of falling out my bed with a giant THUD! "Fyga ib. Huf!"(Wake up. Now!) 'This had better be in important to wake me at 7:30 in the morning Brother.' I thought to myself. I got untwisted from the blankets and found the button to begin talking to Brother. I knew his voice right away even though I had just met him last night. I talked really sweet and calm at first.

"Brother?" there was a crackle of static, then he spoke.

"O-oac?" (Y-yes?)He said nervously.

"E fyhd du ghuf, FRYD'C DRA PEK ETAY!? (I want to know, what's the big idea!?) I yelled. I waited patiently for his reply. He spoke, now sounding afraid, in a quiet voice.

"E fyhdat du mad oui ghuf, pnaygvycd ec nayto." (I wanted to let know breakfast is ready.) My blood boiled and I hung up on him so I wouldn't yell at him through the intercom. Probably would have shattered his eardrums. I angrily picked up my pillows and blankets and threw them on my bed. I plopped back down on my bed and stared at the ceiling. There was a knock on my door. "Come in." the door beeped and Rikku walked in. Her hair was unkempt and she only wore a knee length white t-shirt and she held a small stuffed yellow chocobo. "Hey sleepyhead." I giggled. I rolled over onto my side. She rubbed her eyes, yawned and then sat next to me. "What're you doing up?"

"I heard yelling." My face turned a dark crimson. Guess the walls weren't as thick as I thought.

"Sorry that was me. I was yelling at Brother. Crazy man." I said rolling my eyes. "No offense."

"None taken. Sometimes he can be so annoying."

"He decided that he was going to scream and wake me up for breakfast. So I kinda yelled back. I think he's afraid of me now." We laughed. "We might as well go eat since we're up." I got up and started walking towards the door.

"You're going to the hall like that?" she asked curiously.

"Why not? I'll dress the way I want and I don't care if anyone looks. It's none of their business how I do things." She smiled. I found a pair of slippers in the closet by the door and put them on. "You coming?" She nodded. Rikku fixed her hair quickly and left her stuffed animal on my bed. Of f we went. Rikku went to her usual table, but I sat at an empty table next to them. I didn't want to talk to Brother. When I saw that he was looking over at me, I would turn my gaze back to my food. Eventually he came over and sat next to me. I turned around and crossed my arms. He tapped my shoulder. I turned around and my legs were on the sides of the bench like seat. "Oac Brother?" I furrowed my brow. The next thing was unexpected.

"I w-want cto so-rry San-a-ko." (Say) he spoke in broken spiran. I smiled at him. He had studied this morning to say this one sentence in spiran. I nodded and gave him quick hug. "E cruimth'd ryja cruidat." (I shouldn't have shouted.)

"Dryhg oui Brother. Dryd sayhc y mud."(Thank you Brother. That means a lot.) After he apologized, I went and sat with my friends. I got finished before everyone else. "Hey Ku, I'm gonna go to my room and freshen up kay?" she nodded.

"I'll be up soon so we can go get your new clothes." I nodded and started to walk up to my room. Once again, I began to think of a way to prove to Rikku that I was from the past, but how? I thought long and hard while took and then did my hair. I dressed back into my pajamas and I laid on the bed. All that thinking began to make my eyes heavy with sleep.

_Dream:_

_I walked along this long dusty road. It just kept going and going. Everywhere I looked, it was rocky. I looked over the side of the cliff. It seemed to be a long drop to the beach below. I put my hands over my eyes. It can't be! I quickly climbed my way down the cliff. I hopped off the last rock and ran towards the person. "Tidus!" he smiled and waved the way he usually did. We embraced each other tightly. All of the sudden I heard a weird roaring noise. I turned to see a giant wave forming, with SIN right behind it. I turned back to Tidus and he wasn't there. The wave was getting closer. I tried to move, but my legs wouldn't listen to my brain. I couldn't escape the deadly wave._

I sat up quickly, hitting something with a hard smack and it landed on the ground with a loud THUD!

"Owie!" I saw Rikku holding her nose. I jumped off the bed and knelt beside her. Her eyes began to water a little bit. She kicked her feet a few times.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Id's okay. Id id bleeding?"(It's okay. Is it bleeding?) She kept her hands her face.

"Move your hands so I can see." She did so, but there was no blood to be found. She crinkled her nose a few times and acted as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sorry if I startled you. I was coming to wake you up, it's time to get your clothes fitted." I saw she was already dressed. I wished I could be. I saw her rub her nose a couple of times.

"Okay." I decided to keep that dream to myself for a while. It may mean something. I got out of the bed and wore my pajamas to my clothes fitting. Around 12:30, we finished up. I took my new clothes back to my room, with Rikku's help of course. I put on one of my new outfits. It was a white undershirt with a black one overtop of it. It stopped right above my belly button. My bottoms had one side, the left, were shorts and the other side, the right, and had a full pant leg. I had a pair of red goggles like Rikku and a pair of black fingerless gloves with a white outline. The final piece were my very own black high-tops, which go very well if I do say so myself. If I didn't look like a fully-fledged Al Bhed before, I did now. I came out of the bathroom.

"Those so totally suit you Sanako!" Rikku said happily. "I have an extra salvage suit that should fit you if my father says you can go." I nodded. I sat next her on my bed. I stared intensely at a lamp machina. I sat up slowly. I had finally figured out a way to prove to her I was from the past! I took her hands, which startled her.

"I know how I can prove to you I'm from the past like I said!" she raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any machine that you can't fix or explain?"

"Actually, we do. I can show them to you if you like. They're on the Salvage ship." We went to the ship and I fixed all the machina that were unfixable to them. So much for staying clean. I had grease marks all over my face and hands. I felt her eyes studying me when I fixed the machina. 'I shoulda changed clothes. Idiot.' When you work on this kind of stuff, you get overheated. We reached the control area of the ship where the last machine was.

"We're not exactly sure what this does, but we've been trying to figure this one out for months." I stood back and took a look. It had several levers and buttons and what seemed to be alarm system. Possibly a backup generator too. I finally reached a conclusion; it was an extra set of controls for steering the ship if the first set stopped working. I told her what it was, how to use it, then I scratched my chin and got straight to work. "There." I dusted my hands off. Rikku lent me a hand and helped me up. "It should hold out much better now." I was actually feeling pretty good. It's been a while since I fixed anything. I might have to pick up this habit more often now. "Did I convince you?" I pulled out bottled water from my pocket and chugged it down.

"A little bit." She rocked back and for the on her heals.

"How about if we find Tidus and you ask him where he's from and he tells you the same answer, you'll have to believe us both. Deal?" She gave me a white toothy grin and nodded.

"Deal." She paused. "I think my father will definitely let you go now! I bet you fixed the ship so good, it'll last for many more years to come!" she jumped on my back. I was amazed at how we had become best friends in only a day. I carried her back to my room on my back. I cleaned up and then we went to talk to the man who had let me stay. Her father, Cid.

He wasn't convinced at first that I should go on the mission. Rikku told him how I said I was from the past. It wasn't until after we had shown him what I had fixed where no one else could've did he believe I was telling the truth. Eventually we got through to him.

"I don't see why not." He laughed. "You might actually do well for the salvage team." Rikku beamed with delight that she wouldn't be the only girl who was going.

"Thank you sir!" I hugged him and then I let go real quick, turning a deep crimson red. "S-sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's quite all right." He patted the top of my head and smiled. I watched him turn to his daughter to and ask her to leave. Rikku exited and then Cid turned to me and smiled. He put an arm around me and we walked over to the giant window in his office. You could see all of the sandy dunes and an oasis you could barely see on the horizon. There really was one after all, just not where I ended up. I leaned on the railing. He pulled me out of my thoughts. "Sanako, I presume you live with your parents in the past?" tears welled in my eyes and I shook my head. And that did it. I just broke down and cried in front of a complete stranger. I walked away from Cid and the window and sat down on the couch. He got a box of tissues off his desk. I took a couple and wiped my eyes. He sat next me. The tears kept coming. Cid put his fatherly arms around me and comforted me. "Tell me what's wrong. I won't tell anyone, not even Rikku unless you want me too."

"I'm sorry- everything's- it just getting to me. I don't have a home anymore. I've got nowhere to go, Tidus is gone, I'm in a new place. And- And I'm scared that I'll not be able to pick up the pieces on my own." I continued to cry. He let go and wiped away some of my tears and then placed his hands on my shoulders as he did his daughter.

"You sound like you need something to do, to help keep your mind off things. I want you to be a permanent member of Rikku's Salvage team." I nodded and thanked him. "Something else too. This is your home now. Everyone is here to help." He smiled at me. I gave him a hug and a thank you, then headed to the door. "Sanako, one more thing,"

"Yeah?" I turned and looked at him.

"We're always here for you. Rikku, Brother, and me. We're your family now. You'll never be alone." I smiled, nodded, and then walked out the door to meet Rikku and go to bed. I was feeling better now that I knew that I had a family again. Rikku, Brother (all though that was less comforting), and Dad- er Cid. They'd always be there for me in time of need.


	3. Ruins

I don't own any of the original script of Final Fantasy X or its characters, please don't sue me! (I tweaked a little bit, adding my character into it.)I am very poor! I only have pennies to my name! Let the chapter begin! *Final Fantasy victory fanfare*

Okay! After the many days of technical glitches, now we may continue. (if I made any mistakes in the story I'll fix them. I promise. I just don't feel like re-reading this chapter for the 5 time. Lol)

* * *

Ruins

"Does it always take this long to get to Baja?" I asked my young friend.

"Unfortunately it does. Then we have to search at night. This is actually a good thing. We can use the lights under the ship to find our way through the water and find what we're looking for."

"Wait a second, you never said anything about water!" it's not that I was scared, but who knew how cold that water was?

"Why do you think that I let you use my extra salvage suit?" she laughed at me and I turned pink. "It fits you really well though." That was true. It wasn't exactly like the one she was wearing, it was a different set of colors and it didn't have those wing like things on my arms. It was blue, green, and black.*try to imagine it. Might help* My helmet sat on my right side. I figured everything was form fitting to keep water and other such things out. The ship was much larger than the ones back home, but the people on the salvage team had share rooms. In which case, Rikku and I shared. I lay back on my bed.

"So what do we have to do first?" she came over, sat next to me, and crossed her legs. Much like she did the first day when she found me.

"We have to explore the Baja temple ruins and then there are some ruins in the ocean to look at. We just have to enter the coordinates after we look at Baja. Then you and I have to go down and activate what we find with the power that's left." I sat up, making sure not to hit her in the nose again.

"Sounds like a plan. Hey, would you help with my hair? I can't exactly get it right so I can put my helmet over it." She worked quickly, but gently.

"Sure." By the time she was done, she had gotten it to sit on the top of my head like hers. It actually felt and looked good. I might wear it like this more often. I picked up my helmet.

"Thanks Rikku. I really mean that. For everything." I adjusted my gloves so they were tucked into my sleeves.

"No problem." Then Brother came on over the speaker.

" Ugyo ajanouha, fa naylrat dra dasbma. Huf ku yht caynlr. Drah nabund pylg rana vun uin haqd secceuh." (Okay everyone, we've reached the temple. Now go and search. Then report back here for our next mission.) Rikku already had her goggles and helmet on. I pulled on my helmet and goggles. I turned to her.

"Cu ed pakehc. Mad'c ku "(So it begins. Let's go.)

"Hmm!" she nodded. We searched all over, but it seemed as though someone or something had already gotten the chests or any items that we were looking for. When the team came to a bridge, a large something or other had recently taken it out. Rikku spoke to everyone.

"Muugc mega fa ryja du ku ynuiht du kad ehceta." (Looks like we have to go around to get inside.) I laughed to myself quietly. 'Really? Way to state the obvious my friend.' She probably would give me a punch if she could read thoughts.

" 'na nekrd." (Yes. You're right.)Keyyaku replied. We all climbed around until we got to the entrance. Still nothing to be found. We were about to leave when I heard something behind a wall of rubble. I put my ear against it.

"Rikku! Mecdah! E drehg E vuiht cusadrehk!" (Listen! I think I found something!) I watched her come over and put her ear close to the rocks. She heard the noises too and instructed me, Keyyaku, and some of the others to lay down some explosives. We did as our leader commanded, I lit the fuse, and we hid a small distance away from the explosion. We stepped inside as the smoke cleared and saw someone fighting a rather large fiend. Rikku and I stepped forward. My heart skipped a beat. I let out a barely audible gasp. We had found him. We had found Tidus.

"You're on my side? Cool!" Rikku and I ran forward to help him. She threw a couple of grenades and I did a couple backslash attacks with my daggers. Then he delivered the final blow with his sword from Jetch. We watched it die and disperse into little floating orbs. What are they exactly? I figured I would ask about them later. Tidus was more important. "Whew! That was close." I smiled, but then it disappeared. One of the other Al Bhed, someone dressed in green, grabbed Tidus by his hair. "Hey lemme go!" I couldn't bring myself to move. I wanted to help Tidus, but helping him might make the others that didn't know that well suspicious. More surrounded him with guns. It pained me to hear what he was being called. I was surprised that he didn't remember any Al Bhed words that I had taught him. Lazy bum.

"Fryd ec drec?"(What is this?)

"Y fiend! Eh risyh tackieca!"(A fiend! In human disguise) another shouted.

"Oac! Ed ec cu!" (Yes! it is so!)I gasped loudly. 'Don't go where I think it is.' I made fists at my sides to keep my hands from shaking. The one holding his hair pulled out a knife and held it in front of Tidus' throat. "Fa gemm ed?" (We kill it?) I whispered hurriedly to Rikku.

"Fyed Rikku, dryd'c res! Dryd'c Detic!" (Wait Rikku, that's him! That's Tidus!) She nodded and spoke up.

"Fyed!" she continued. "Fryd ev ed ec risyh?" (Wait! What if it is human?) I started to walk forward and one of the others pointed at gun at me and a knife at Rikku.

"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr." (They are the same in death.) I shouted.

"Hu!"(No!) I immediately placed my hands over my mouth. Rikku looked over at me as if to say, 'Let me take care of it.'

"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic!"(I forbid it! We bring it with us!) Thank goodness. I watched her walk up to Tidus, unsure of what she was doing. I heard her whisper. "Cunno." (Sorry.) I saw her punch him in the stomach. All I could do was stand there. I couldn't get my words out as he fell unconscious. I was brought back out of my thoughts by Rikku's voice. Every else exited the temple.

"Come on." Rikku tapped me on the shoulder. "Help me carry him." I nodded, went, and grabbed underneath his shoulders. Rikku grabbed his legs. We struggled to speak and carry the blitzer at the same time.

"Did you -have to punch- him?" She grunted then, after a few moments, she answered my question.

"They- the others- uh- wouldn't have- let us leave with him otherwise. Don't worry, it – wasn't as hard as it looked." She adjusted her grip on his legs. "Just try to roll- with me. I'll make sure that- they won't hurt him kay?"

"Agreed." I smiled.

* * *

I stayed on the deck of the ship with two of the other crewmembers, while Rikku went and talked to Brother. She was trying to convince him to let Tidus stay.

"uhhhhh…" I looked over and saw Tidus was waking up. I tried to run over to him, but Keyyaku stuck his arm out and wrapped around my middle.

"Ced, lybdeja!" (Sit, captive!)He tried to get up, but the other Al Bhed hit Tidus with the end of his gun and made him sit back on the ground. I got Keyyaku's arms off me and didn't move, afraid to be hit in the gut again.

"Hey, that hurts!" Tidus rubbed his chest.

"Hu sujehk, rayn?"(No moving, hear?) the man said in a threatening tone so Tidus understood.

"Whoa…okay." Just then, I saw the door open, then Rikku and Brother stepped out. Brother approached Tidus. Rikku stepped over to me and whispered.

"I'm not going to hurt him, I promise."I nodded. Brother spoke.

"Caynir res!"(Search him!) Rikku walked over put one of his arms behind his back. I had to keep telling myself that they wouldn't hurt him and they just needed to know that Tidus wasn't going to do anything that would make him unworthy of their trust. Brother began showing motions to Tidus of swimming and grunting. Rikku and I found it hard not to giggle. Tidus spoke.

"Right. Whatever."

"Tu ou hud cbayg?"(Do you not speak?)He showed Tidus a necklace or something and grunted some more. Why didn't the man just go ahead and learn Spiran? Better yet, ask me and Rikku to be translators?

"I said I don't understand."

"Ehcumahia!" (Insolence!)I watched as Tidus was once again at gunpoint. I looked at Rikku and with my eyes, pleaded she say something. She read my mind er- face.

"Fyed!"(wait) "He said you could stay if you make yourself useful." 'So Brother said he could stay, but it figures that there'd be a catch. It doesn't matter, just as long as he's with me'

"You…You understand me?" he gets hit the head again. "All right, I'll work!" I wish he didn't have to get hurt so much. I hoped that I 'd get a moment alone with him soon. I want to get a chance to tell him- to tell him how I feel. I talked to Rikku very quick and found out Tidus would be helping us. Rikku spoke more to Tidus.

"Oh, almost forgot!" I paid close attention as she taught Tidus about the sphere grid so I would know how to use it. After she finished he walked over to the side of the boat. I stayed next to Rikku and talked to her.

"What's this? Some kind of crane?" Brother yelled at him.

"Rao, oui! Kad yfyo vnus drana!"(Hey, you! Get away from there!)

"All right, all right! You don't have to shout!" Tidus came back over and I stayed quiet while Rikku told Tidus what we were doing.

"We found some ancient ruins right beneath us. It's not active now, but there should still be some power left. Us three are going to go down and activate it…and then we should be able to salvage the big prize!" He nodded in agreement. "Okay, let's get to work!"

"Roger!" Tidus jumped off the ship into the water and then Rikku and I followed. After a while, we swam at a slow pace to regain our energy. We finally made it inside after fighting a few fish fiends. We split up for a few moments until I found the core where we were to turn on the airship. It took a few moments, but we got it running. We tried to exit, but all of the sudden we were attack by a giant Tros fiend. Rikku attacked with her claw and some grenades, Tidus did a couple of spiral-like cuts, and I finished the monster off with my dagger slash overdrive. All three of us worked our way back to the ship, hopping back onto the deck. Tidus shook the water off himself.

"Fa vuiht dra airship!"(We found the airship!)

"Dra nalutc fana nekrd."(The records were right.) Everyone was excited. Even Tidus looked a little thrilled even though he was forced to help. We had gotten it to work after all! I was near the entrance, but turned to go talk to Tidus. Once again, I was stopped and pushed through the doorway by Keyyaku. I heard one of the guards speaking harshly to Tidus.

"Oui, uidceta!"(You, outside!)

"Hey, I helped out, didn't I." I ducked inside a supply closet near the entrance when no one was watching. I waited until I heard all of the footsteps go by before going back outside. I heard Rikku talking to Brother.

"Ryja oui caah Sanako?"(Have you seen Sanako?)

"Sicd pa en ran nuus."(Must be in her room.) I waited until Brother was gone. He would've made me stay in the room the rest of the way back to Bikanel if he knew what I was up to. I stepped out of the supply closet and brushed myself off. Then I went up on deck. I saw Tidus laying down and staring at the stars. He sat up when heard my footsteps. "Have you come to hit me some more?" I shook my head and crouched next to him. He seemed confused at what I was doing. I put a hand under my chin and smiled.

"I guess you really don't recognize me huh?" he made a weird face. I laughed and took off my goggles and helmet. My heart began to beat faster and I took his hands in mine.

"S-Sanako?" he practically tackled me. We hugged each other tightly. So tight, in fact that it was as if we would die if we let go of one another. Tears found their way to my eyes. They slowly began to roll down my cheeks.

"Y-yeah. I've been so afraid-" I started to shake uncontrollably and he hugged me tighter if that was even possible. It may have hurt, but if felt so good to feel pain, especially if he was the one causing it. I began to sob. "I- thought that- I'd – I'd never see you again Ti." I heard him crying as well. We looked each other in the eyes, our foreheads touching, eventually the tears finally stopped.

"I was so worried about you Sana." He laid back and I laid on top of him with my chin on his chest. He put his hands on my waist, holding me tightly as if I would disappear right before his very eyes. My left hand rested on his shoulder and I took my right hand and stroked a few pieces of his hair, then his eyebrow, and then his soft lips. I stopped and got up, turning a slight rosy pink. He sat up. "What's wrong?" I shook my head.

"I'm so happy that you'll be travelling with us. I've just missed you so much." I turned and faced him, crouching down to match his height. "I have to tell you something. I – I" the growl of his stomach interrupted me. I was actually somewhat thankful for that. I chuckled and he held his belly.

"Uhh…hungry." I laughed louder. "What?" he asked smiling.

"It's nothing. Real quick ,before I feed you," I teased, "how come you forgot the Al Bhed I taught you?" I watched his face twist and turn as he searched for an answer. I giggled at his face. "Don't worry about it." I smiled and turned to leave. He stood up once again taking me in his arms from behind. I began to blush fiercely. "H-hey wh-what's-" what he said next made my heart skip a beat.

"I don't want to lose you again, okay?" he rested his chin in the curve of my shoulder. I closed my eyes and began to melt. "Sanako I want to let you know I-" just then the door opened and someone else stepped out onto the deck.

"Okay you two, stop with the PDA." I knew exactly whom that voice and laughter belonged to. We immediately released our hug. I saw her carrying a tray of food for Tidus. "I kinda figured you'd be up here. Not in our room where Brother said. What exactly were you doing up here?" My hands waved back and forth.

"Oh! We- we weren't-it-uh…" I began to turn a deep shade of red. I'm sure Tidus was too.

"Here, I brought you some food." She handed the tray to Tidus. He sat down and started to eat very fast. He began to choke and Rikku gave him a jug of water. We all started laughing. He stood up, stretched, and then turned back around to face us.

"Tidus, I want you to meet Rikku. Rikku, meet Tidus." He waved.

"Nice to meet you." She replied. "I know this is sudden, but where are you from?"

"Zanarkand." Her eyes widened and she walked over to where I was standing. We spoke in Al Bhed so he wouldn't understand.

"E dumt oui cu!"(I told you so!)I giggled a little. "Huf tu oui pameaja sa?" (Now do you believe me?)

"Vun cina. 100%" (For sure.100%) We both laughed the rejoined Tidus. " Ya know… Sana, Tidus maybe I should get you to Luca." She put a finger on her chin.

"Why?" I asked.

"Yeah, what's in Luca?" Tidus followed. She paced back and forth, and then stopped suddenly.

"You might see someone who knows who you guys are or you might see someone you both recognize." I nodded. "I'll make sure I can go with you guys. That way you won't get lost. Just leave it to me, I'll get you to Luca! He y and maybe we could watch some blitzball games as well, since Sanako told me you play Tidus." He nodded excitedly at this idea.

"Thanks Ku." Tidus nodded in agreement.

"I'll go tell the others." She went to leave, but turned back around. "Just like I told Sanako, even though I believe you two, don't tell anyone that you're from Zanarkand. It's considered a holy place." She left to go talk to the others. Tidus leaned against the railing.

"Weird huh?" I asked, briefly leaning on the railing, and then standing straight back up.

"Yeah. Our Zanarkand. A holy place." He stood up. We held each other close once again. I placed my head sideways on his chest.

"Don't ever let go okay?" I have to tell him or I might not get another chance. He placed his chin on the top of my head.

"I promise."

"Ti?" we looked each other in the eyes. His sapphire blues staring into my venomous green emeralds. He put his hands on the sides of my face. I wrapped my arms around his waist tighter. He began to stroke my temples with his thumbs. "I want to tell you that I-" I found his lips pressed against mine. I was shocked at first, but then deepened the passionate kiss. We pulled out of it slowly and it felt like static was running through my body. I could feel his heart beating just as fast as mine was. His arms wrapped around me.

"Sana, I want you know that, I love you. I have for a very long time." Pools of joy formed in my eyes. He feels the same way. We shared another intense kiss. Deeper than the one before.

"Me too. Tidus I-" Something crashed into the boat. He held me tightly as we went flying across the ship deck to the other railing. Unfortunately, my back was the one that landed against the rail, then Tidus landing on me. The others arrived on the deck. I banged my head and got the wind knocked out of me. "Uhhh…huh" I was gasping for breath. He kissed me breathing air into my lungs. I felt the others eyes on us as he kissed me. I began to cough. The air was returning to my body.

"You all right?" I nodded, still in a little pain. We saw something shoot out of the water. We stood up quickly, holding each others hands tightly. The object was getting closer to the ship.

"SIN!"

"SIN ec lusa!"(SIN is come!)

"Ihtan ic! Ihtan ic!"(Under us! Under us!) SIN hit the ship again and our fingers slipped. Tidus went over the side of the ship. My hand reached out to him.

"TIDUS!"

"Sanako! What are you doing!? Are you nuts!? The current's too strong!" Rikku yelled. I got up on the railing and looked at her fiercely.

"I'm not gonna lose him again!" I yelled through tears. I dove into the icy water. I saw him being pulled away by the strong current. I tried to swim as fast as I could. All of the sudden I was hit by one of SIN's tentacles on my right arm. I gritted my teeth because of the pain, but kept trying to swim. I felt two people grab me and start pulling me to the surface. I screamed into the water. They hoisted me onto the deck of the ship. It had started to rain. I threw up the water I had swallowed and then continued to cry and shake violently from SIN's toxin. I felt the blood pouring from my arm that was in extreme pain.

"Stay with me Sana!" Rikku felt my forehead. "Brother! Kad dra yhdetudac! Xielgmo! Cra'c vytehk vycd! Keyakku, kad cusa pyhtykac!"(Brother! Get the antidotes! Quickly! She's fading fast! Keyyaku, get some bandages!) Everyone hovered around me. I tried to get up to go after Tidus, but she made me stay still. I felt my eyelids fluttering as I tried to hold onto consciousness. My eyes started to roll back into my head. I felt them fixing my arm. "Cusauha luhdyld so Vydran! Huf!"(Someone contact my Father! Now!) I was so cold and kept shaking and the heavy rain didn't help either. She tapped my face, trying to keep me awake. I heard her voice shaky from crying. Rikku tapped my face again. "Sana, come on! You've got to stay awake!"

"R-r-r-r-i-k-k-k-ku. W-w-we gotta to s-s-save T-t-tidussss…" then everything went black.

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So what did you think? let me know!

oh! i need some help on the next chapter. not exactly sure what to do allthough i have some ideas. sorta. tell me anything that you come up with or would like to be in the next chapter! help is much appreciated and i will make sure to mention you at the beginning of the next chapter!

sorry that i didn't update when i said i would. stupid technical glitch! drove me nuts! had the chapter done saturday and i could post it until today!


	4. Bikanel Island part 2

Okay! The long awaited chapter # 4! Now before we get started, something happens between me (Sanako) and a certain character that shall not be named. Please don't leave any flames, if you must, only a small one! I promise Tidus and Sanako will be a couple! I just needed something to end the chapter in an interesting way. If I create a sequel to this story, may have my character have a relationship with them until some certain point. Whoaaaaa…… I'm getting way ahead of myself! On with the present story! *final fantasy victory fanfare*

p.s. keep in mind, I think that Tidus is dead when said something happens. I know this is confusing, but you'll find out what I mean later!

* * *

Bikanel Part 2

_Dream Sequence:_

_"Sana, I want you know that, I love you. I have for a very long time." Pools of joy formed in my eyes. He feels the same way. We shared another intense kiss. Deeper than the one before._

_"Me too. Tidus I feel the same way." We kissed repeatedly, then sat down, leaning against a bunch of crates and held hands. He rubbed my thumb to soothe me. It began to make me sleepy and I yawned._

_"Sleepy?" I nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. "You probably want to go inside." I stood up and pulled him to his feet. He knew what I was getting at but questioned it. "What if we get caught?"_

_"Don't worry, I'll take the blame." We snuck quietly to my room and opened the door softly so we would wake the sleeping 15 year old. "I'll be right back, I've gotta change." I stepped into the bathroom and worked my way out of my salvage suit, then hung it up on the shower curtain rod. I switched to my black pajamas and stepped out. Tidus had taken off his shoes and yellow shirt. I wish that I could find him something more comfortable to sleep in, but I couldn't risk being caught. We hugged each other tightly. Then he kissed the top of my head. "Now to figure out how we'll both fit." I scratched my head. The bed was only meant for one person, not two. Tidus whispered in my ear._

_"I got an idea." I watched him slide under the covers and lay with his back up against the wall. He patted the spot next to himself. I finally got comfortable after I was facing him, with our foreheads touching. I took in his aroma. He smelled like the ocean. His skin felt warm to the touch as his arms wrapped tighter around my middle, his hands touching the bare back my shirt showed._

_"Night Ti. I love you." I closed my eyes._

_"I love you too." We began to drift off to a peaceful slumber, but not soon after, I felt something wet on my forehead._

My eyes began to flutter open. "Dad! She's awake!" Turns out Rikku had been dabbing my head with a damp cloth. Rikku began to cry and she hugged me carefully, as if I had gotten an injury. Did I? I can't remember. Cid walked over and took my hand. Brother stood at the end of the bed. I could tell I was at the infirmary at HOME, but why? "We're so glad you're awake now Sana." Rikku smiled. I tried to sit up, but winced in pain.

"Ow!" I grabbed my right arm, which was all bandaged up.

"Careful." Cid said helping me to sit up. I took off my oxygen mask. Like I needed that now.

"What happened? Where's Tidus?" Everyone, including Brother seemed to sadden when I asked where Tidus was. "Rikku, where's Tidus?" I said seriously.

"When we were attacked by SIN on the ship, he- he was thrown overboard." My heart stopped. So my dream wasn't real. I know we told each other what we felt, but the rest of it didn't happen? I shook my head in disbelief. "That was five days ago. Your arm was much worse, but you should be able to take off the bandages tomorrow." She wiped her tears and continued. "You jumped into save him but got hit by SIN. Me and one of the other crew members pulled you back onto the deck." Rikku took me in her arms.

"I lost him again." I cried. "Damn it!" I banged my left fist on the bed and sobbed into her shoulder.

After I was done sobbing, a doctor came in. "I'm glad to see you're awake. I'm Dr. Leo." Figures my doctor would be a man. He looked at a few papers on his clipboard, mumbling something about my case being extraordinary and he's never seen anything like it. Whatever. I rolled my eyes. "Cid, I'm gonna check her vitals and re-bandage her arm to make sure she's all set to go." Cid nodded and then whispered something to Rikku and she left the room. Brother went and sat down in a chair. The doctor sat down on a stool and wheeled over to my bed. To be honest, I was aggravated that a doctor would be prodding and poking me. I hate hospitals. He looked at my ears, glands, listened to my breathing, my eyes. He scribbled something on the papers and then turned back to me. "Her vitals are good," he stood up and washed his hands again. "Now let's get a look at that arm." He began to unwrap the bandages slowly, revealing a scar-ish line on my arm that was still healing. He ran his fingers over it smoothly over it. I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood. It was all I could do to keep from screaming. A single tear ran down my cheek. I wiped it away with my left hand. "Well this looks really good. I'm going to put an ace bandage on that spot and tomorrow you can take it off so it can heal the rest of the way." He carefully wrapped it around the wound. Rikku came back in and I noticed she had a fresh set of clothes for me to put on. Thank the Machina Lord! I could get out of these smelly clothes. The doctor finished and talked to Cid privately, then left.

"Okay you two, Brother and I have some errands to run. Stay out of trouble for once." He laughed as my face turned purple. He and Brother left and I got off the bed. I hated the fact my arm was injured. This meant I wouldn't be able to use it at its full capacity for a while. I walked over to where Rikku was. She handed me the clothes and turned around.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna look." Rikku giggled.

"I know." I quickly put on fresh undergarments, and then slipped into my clean clothes. I picked the dirty ones off the floor and slipped on the slippers that they had put on my feet. "Okay. I'm done." She turned around smiling, but then it slowly disappeared. She was having trouble with what she wanted to say. It looked as though she was going to cry again. "Rikku, what is it?" she rubbed her foot on her leg and then scratched her shoulder.

"I need to show oui something."(You) my hearts pace sped up a little. We walked to Rikku's room in silence. I put my clothes in her hamper and then sat down on her bed. I watched as she rummaged around through a dresser drawer. She finally found what she was looking for and brought it over. Rikku sat next to me and handed over the object. It was a little wooden box, nothing special.

"What is it?"

"I found it floating in the water when I was pulling you out. I'm- af-fraid that's- all I could…" her sentence trailed off. My heart began to beat twice as fast as I opened the small box. Tears found their way to my eyes and began to roll down my cheeks. I gasped, remembering that I had to breathe. I held the small chain with my pointer finger and thumb. The item spun and shined in front of my eyes. My eyelashes began to form wet triangles from my tears. It was a Blitzball with golden wings. It was my gift that I had given to Tidus the day Zanarkand was attacked. I clinched in my right hand, put my other hand over my face, and began sobbing hard. Tidus was gone. He was really gone this time and he wasn't coming back.

Later that evening, I sat at a table, far away from anyone else, in a corner by myself. I didn't want to ruin anyone's mood with my sadness and I didn't need anyone's pity either. I tried to cut up my food angrily, I wasn't successful, and I threw the fork. It made a loud clatter and landed at someone's feet. The man picked up the fork , cleaned it off, and sat next to me. I didn't even notice that they had sat next me.

"You want some help?" I jumped at their voice. I looked to my side and saw that it was Gippal. I sighed and put my hand on my chest.

"Geez Gippal! You scared me." He chuckled as I blushed fiercely. The blonde man began to cut up my food. He worked quickly but the food was cut up into perfect squares. "I didn't mean to almost hit-"

"It's quite all right." He finished cutting up my meal. He looked into my eyes with compassion and understanding. My heart skipped a beat. His smiled seemed to make some of the hurt go away, not as much as Tidus' smile would do though. "You know, I miss you not sitting at the table with us. It's not the same without you." I wasn't really paying attention to the real meaning of what he said. If I had been paying attention, I would have realized that he was saying, 'I really like you. Would you go out with me? Sana, I love you.' Instead, I was too busy taking angry bites of my food and spoke with a mouthful. I noticed that the others left and Rikku had already gone to her room.

"I don't need your pity." I realized about a minute later that I had said that aloud. I put my fork down. "Gippal, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"I know." He still had that smile on his face after what I had just said. "You're just stressed out." His ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair. "You wanna go for a walk outside? You know, clear your head?" I thought it was a good idea at the time. I didn't see any harm in it. It wasn't like a date or anything right? Just a walk, talking to a good friend. Gippal picked up my tray even though I didn't ask him too. 'So this guy likes to play gentleman.' I giggled to myself as he dumped my tray. We exited HOME, and then walked over several dunes just talking, laughing, and he'd poked fun at me. I'd get angry and he'd laugh. We sat down on a dune and watched the sun begin to set. I sighed and lay back, staring at the ever-changing sky. Gippal leaned back onto his elbows. "You feel better now?" he waited a few moments and then he lay on his side to face me, propping his head up in his hand.

"A little." I smiled. Then I found Gippal was on his hands and knees above me. His face hovered over mine. I took a moment to gaze at his face and I knew he was doing the same. The remaining sunlight made his face shadowy and mysterious. He had a strong jaw line and good muscle definition. I didn't have the slightest idea what I was doing. I ran my hand down the side of his face and stopped at his neck. The spikey hair and the eye patch worked well for him and made him look older than he was. He moved my bangs gently out of my face, stroking my eyebrow in the process. I told myself over and over, 'No! You can't do this! This isn't right! Don't lead him on!', but I didn't listen to my advice. His fingers grazed over my collarbone and then he placed his right hand behind my head. He put his weight on his other forearm. I let him kiss me and for a brief second I kissed him back. I can't say that I didn't enjoy it, but I can't say I was thrilled about what I had just done. I began to cry and we pulled out of our kiss. I sat up and turned away from him. I could feel his hurt gaze upon my back. It felt like lasers searing into my skull. I had hurt his feelings, but I had to stop what we were doing. It was for the best. "I'm so sorry Gippal.-"I let out a few more sobs. "I-I just can't." I sniffled and a few more tears ran down my cheeks. "It's too soon. I still feel very strongly for Tidus. He was there first. I don't want you to be the rebound guy. The one that listens to me talk about him." I sobbed into my knees.

"I wouldn't-"I knew exactly what he was going to say. He was going to say he wouldn't care just as long as I was with him. I had to stop him from saying it.

"Don't Gip. Don't say it. It'll just make it harder."

"I understand." I could hear him smiling. I felt his shadow over me. He lifted my chin up and wiped away my tears. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to me. I wiped my nose and stuck the tissue in my pocket. He stood up and then helped me to my feet. We started to walk back to HOME. I linked an arm with him in a friendly way. Gippal and I walked in silence until we arrived at my room.

"Thanks for the talk Gippal."

"No problem." There was that smile again. I stuck my hand out.

"Friends?" instead of shaking my hand, he gave me a quick hug, whispering into my ear.

"Friends, but I don't know how long I can wait." I turned a bright crimson. "See you later Rikku's friend." He began to walk away and waved. I shouted to him.

"Hey Gip," he turned around quickly, "Syopa Cusatyo." (Maybe Someday) He nodded and walked away laughing. I had to give him a small glimmer of hope, even if we never happened.

* * *

okay, i know that was shorter than the other chapters, but i promise the others will be longer than this one. so what did you think? you weren't expecting the thing with gippal huh? like i said before, i promise to put sanako and tidus together. please don't be mad about what i did with gippal and sanako! i just found that it was a good way to end the chapter. well, i gotta go start working on the next chapter, send me any ideas or comments you have!

Zutarafn1


	5. Luca

Okay, I finally was able to push past my writers block on this chapter. Sorry if it's not too exciting. I might recreate this one later because of its lack of structure. Anyway, I think you've been waiting long enough, so I won't ramble on about stuff that you won't want to read. On with the story! *final fantasy victory fanfare*

P.S. I know what you're thinking, does she intend to do that in every chapter? As a matter of fact I do! Lol. Now seriously, start reading.

I know I say this a lot too, but just so I don't get sued, I don't own the original dialogue for final fantasy x and all that good stuff. I just tweaked the conversation between Tidus and Auron. Oh and you are in for a big surprise. If you don't like it I'll take it out, but thought I might put some more drama in my life-er my character's life. ^-^

* * *

Luca

"Why do we have to go to Luca anyway?" the last thing I wanted to do was travel the next day after I had woke up from 5 days of supposed rest. And here we were almost to the city of Luca on the Al Bhed Psyches boat. It's much larger than our salvage ship because of the blitzball practice ring. I sat down on the deck, in the oceany air, pouting.

"I already told you,-"

"I know, I know. I'm just sooooo bored!" I crossed my arms and stuck my bottom lip out further. Rikku crouched down next to me, giggling at my face. She rubbed my back a little. Leave it to a 17 year old to beat all the 3 year olds in Spira, in a pouting contest.

"Hey, why don't we check out the team? See if we're better than last year? It's better than sitting out here and pouting, Mrs. Pouty Duty!" she ran away laughing and I bolted after her.

"Hey! You're gonna pay for that!" I ran after her down the halls laughing.

* * *

We arrived at the pool and sat at the mini bleachers beside the blitz pool. I sorta wanted to go in, it's been a while since I've been in one. Truth be told, it was somewhat hard watching them play. I used to watch Tidus all the time. Then he would teach me on the side how to play, just us two. I was brought out of my own little world by Rikku shouting. She had already moved out of the way.

"Muug Uid!"(Look out!). The blitzball was head straight for me at a dangerous speed. I stood up and took the right position. I waited until the last moment and then without even so much as flinching, I did a sideways spin and kicked the ball back into the sphere pool. I landed back onto the bleachers. I stretched my lower back out. 'Man, I'm a little rusty to be honest.' I shouted and threw my hands in the air.

"Booyah! 10 blitz points!" I did a couple of fake punches. Rikku made her way back over to me. I rotated the arm with the scar, which now was just a line about the size of my pinky, it was slowly healing and might even be finished.

"Where pray tell, did you learn to do that!?" her eyes were wide with curiosity. I hesitated at first, but then answered her question.

"Ti- he taught me back in Zanarkand." I looked away from her gaze and at the ceiling, afraid she would see my eyes watering. The conversation ended there. It's still much too painful to talk about it. About 5-10 minutes later, we arrived in Luca, being the last to the harbor.

I'll admit Luca was amazing. The many stadiums, harbors, all that good stuff. We had arrived about an hour before the games were about to start. Sure, it would bring back memories, but I would have to encounter several things that would remind me of him. Better to face them sooner than later. I decided to go to the games with her instead of waiting in a café until the games were done. After only 45 minutes of walking, I started to complain for the second time that day. I felt like my feet were cement blocks and my hands were dragging on the ground.

"Can we go home nowwww?" I whined. "I'm tired." She linked arms with me.

"No, you needed to get out of the desert and cheer up. Let's go get our seats. Then you can rest." She pulled my hand.

"Uggghhh…" we worked our way to the area where we supposed to sit. Before we went in, Rikku pulled out some Gil and bought two blue raspberry blitz slushies and we made our way to our seats. I started to sip the drink. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Good huh?" I nodded. I took a couple of long quick sips.

"You really know how to treat a person." She laughed out loud and stomped her feet when she saw that I got a serious brain freeze. I put a hand to my forehead. "Just remember, I could stop being your friend at any moment!" she tried to stifle her laughing, but was hardly able to pull it to a giggle. Then a few moments later, the announcements came on for the games to begin. Our team was up first against the Besaid Aurochs. Unfortunately, we lost. A couple more teams played and then it was a 5-minute break until the last game began. The Besaid Aurochs vs. the Luca Goers. "Hey, I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" she asked sitting up in her seat. I came up with a small lie.

"I have to go talk to a shopkeeper about another one of these." I pointed to my slushie cup. She nodded and then I walked out. I threw the cup in a garbage can. Honestly, I felt something pulling me towards the team locker rooms. Luckily, I knew how this worked. On a five-minute break, the teams don't return to their rooms. They cool off with bottles of water by the sphere pool, how ironic. Hmmm… let's see, Al Bhed Psyches, the Luca Goers. Like I care about them. They seemed like total hard heads to me. Show offs. Kilika Beasts, something about R-ra-ronsos. I finally came to a door that said Besaid Aurochs. I felt my heart skip a beat when I read the name. Curiosity ended up getting the better of me. I listened to see if anyone was inside and then I made sure no one was watching, and then stepped inside. I breathed a sigh of relief that there really was no one in the room.

I glanced at a few pictures of a small island and then I noticed one of the lockers was cracked open. I walked over to it and noticed the inside of the locker was glowing. So opened the door to find the most beautiful sword I had ever seen in my life. It was see through crystal blue and it looked like it had waves inside of the blade. The handle was lava rock black with a red scarf tied to the end. It's not as if I was going to steal it, I just wanted to see if it was as light as it looked. Just as my hand almost touched the handle, the door began to open. Shit. There was no place to hide. I backed up against the wall and waited for the person to come inside.

* * *

"Hey what're you doin' in here ya? I leave to get a potion for my stomach-"*if you don't know why, Wakka is hit in the stomach several times before Tidus takes over.*he shook his head, not finishing his sentence. The man stepped closer to me, now only three feet away. He was two heads taller than Tidus. He had red-orange hair and an accent. He seemed to be well built and sported the colors of the Besaid Aurochs. On his left arm I notice that he was wearing, the blitz guard that signified that he was captain of the Aurochs. 'Oh great, of all people, I encounter the team captain.' Then I realized this guy was, compared to my 5'8'', he was a giant.

"S-s-sorry." My knees were shaking fast and I couldn't help but stutter. I was sure he could hear how loud and fast my heart was beating. "I just got lost and-" the red haired man put his hands on his hips and began to scowl hard at me. Like I had done something to him or someone. "Wh-what?" I asked nervously. I felt like a fly and he was the giant hand that had the fly swatter. If I made a move, I might get well, swatted!

"You're Al Bhed!" 'Huh? That's out of the blue.'

"Y-yeah. What's that g-got to do w-with anything?" just remember to breathe Sanako. Remember to breathe. I would gladly take this advice from myself this time.

"You were one of the one's that tried to kidnap summoner Yuna! You want to stop her pilgrimage!" 'What? I don't even know what a summoner is. And what's a pilgrimage anyway?' Even though my knees were still knocking, although much more slower now, I stood my ground and told him the truth.

"I don't know what you're talking about. How could I steal her? I hardly know my way around here! I told you I got lost! That should give you an indication!" I told my knees to stop shaking.

"Don't play dumb. All of you Al Bhed are alike. I know what you did and you're not going anywhere. You'll stay here until Yuna and the others come back after the game and apologize." 'Yeah and then I'll go to prison and be happy about it!' I sighed and shook my head from side to side. I looked at my watch. 'Great, the game is a already 1 minute in and here I am being held captive. Think Sanako think! How to get-aha! I got it! And I hope this works. He'd have to be as dumb as Tidus to fall for this one. Just kidding! I'd never in my life call Tidus dumb!*wait a second, didn't she just call him dumb like two seconds ago? *Although, Ti did fall for it a lot now that I think about it. Anyway here it goes. I pointed to the ceiling and shouted. "Look! A distraction!" sure enough he fell for it. I quickly jumped as high as I could and push off his shoulders, leaping over him, and then landing right in front of the door. I winked at him and then shot out the door, and went back to my seat. "Whew."

"What happened? The game started 2 minutes ago." I scratched my head.

"Well after I found out that the same vender was out of slushies, I ran into a little trouble, but everything's good now." She shrugged and turned her gaze back to the game. I giggled. 'More like 6 feet and 2 inches of trouble.' I fiddled with the blitz charm on the necklace I made. I decided that I needed to have him with me wherever I went. Therefore, I put the blitzball charm on a necklace. I stopped playing with my necklace and watched the game. I rooted secretly for the Aurochs to win. Team show off didn't need another trophy and I sorta felt bad for the Aurochs. 10 seasons without winning! Sheesh! I clinched my charm in my hand and I began to focus on the players more closely. My eyes darted from one to the next and finally froze on the only blonde player on the team. My heart sped up and was going twice as fast as it should. Rikku shook my shoulder.

"Sanako, what's wrong?" she waved her hand up in down in front of my face. I didn't event flinch. "You look like you've seen a ghost." I moved my mouth up and down, but no words would dare come out. I pointed and her gaze followed in the direction that was i pointing. The color drained from her face as well. Our eyes were glued to the blonde Blitzer. There was no doubt about it. Tidus was alive.

* * *

In the end, the Besaid Aurochs won the cup! Everyone was so excited, but the cheering and celebrating soon turned to panicking and screaming. Unexpectedly a ton of fiends showed up. I looked over at the sphere pool and saw the man that had captured me, helping Tidus defeat the water fiends and escape the pool. Soon the stadium was empty, only a few select people still there. Including Rikku and me, a woman in all black, a girl about my age wearing a kimono, one if those Ronso things, someone with blue hair who looked like nobility of some kind and… it couldn't be could it? A man clad in red with a large bushido sword. I knew those sunglasses and that hair anywhere. Auron. I was gonna have a long talk with him, but not now. Rikku and I were ambushed by a set of fiends. As we were fighting, I saw the red haired man and Tidus appear over by the kimono girl. They began to protect her. Could she be the summoner that man talked about? I turned back to the fighting. Out of nowhere, my arm began to throb. There could only be one logical explanation. SIN was near. I dropped to my knees and gritted my teeth.

"Sanako, are you all right!?" Rikku whipped out a grenade that destroyed all of the monsters surrounding us. I talked through gritted teeth.

"I'm f-fine. I can, I-I can feel SIN. It's close." My eyes began to water. The pain became unbearable so I screamed. "AAaaaahhhhh!!!"

"Sanako?" She said worriedly.

"Rikku go to the docks outside. I'll be right there, I promise."

"But-" she looked as though she was ready to cry.

"Hurry! Go now! I'll be alright!" I watched her run out. This would give me chance to get to the others. Maybe if that girl was the Summoner, she could help me. It was worth a shot. I pushed through the pain and stood up. I began to walk over to Auron, Tidus, and the red haired man who were fighting a rather large fiend and the woman in black and the Ronso were protecting the brown haired girl. Suddenly I was surrounded by fiends. My arm began to throbbing again and it brought me straight down to my knees. They began to close in on me. With I all my might I screamed. "Somebody help me!" then all of the fiends burst into little floating orbs. I grasped my arm and looked up. Auron had saved me. "It's about time you lousy samurai!" I saw him smirk and then he spoke.

"So how's your story been coming along?"

"We don't have time for this old man!"

"Right, you see the girl over there?" he pointed to the one with brown hair. "She'll be able to help your arm. Can you make it over there?" I stood up still holding my arm.

"I can try." Tidus hadn't even noticed that I was there yet.

"One more thing, address her as Lady Summoner got it kid?" I nodded. The suddenly more fiends appeared. "I'll clear the path and you run as fast as you can. Ready? Stand behind me." I did as I was told. All of the sudden he looked like he was glowing and then he stabbed his sword in the ground and the fiends disappeared. "Go now!" I ran as fast as I could. Suddenly the ground began to shake. I turned my gaze to the huge monster in the center of the stadium. A mummy like creature was making the monsters all around me dissapear and I noticed the blue haired man from earlier , in the Vip box above the other seats, was controlling it. He summoned it and saved everyone.

I snapped back to reality and continued walking over to the girl in the kimono. I bowed since I didn't know her customs. Now that SIN was gone, my arm hurt a lot less, but I still wanted to know if she could do anything. I kept my eyes downcast when I talked to her so she wouldn't see that I was Al Bhed. I noticed that she was very pretty and had a kindness about her. I spoke. "Lady Summoner, I was told that you might be of some help." She had such a delicate caring laugh that could warm anyone up. She pulled me out of my bowing stance.

"I might. What is it that you need?" she asked with a kind smile. I told her about my arm and how it came in contact with SIN. Then I showed it to her and she studied it for a moment. "Hmmm… well it's completely healed, but I can reduce the toxin's that take affect when SIN is near. I'm sorry to say that this will only be temporary, but once SIN is gone, the toxins will slowly cease to exist." I nodded. She pulled out what seemed to be a staff and held it over my arm. She whispered something and my arm warmed up and then became as cold as ice in a matter of seconds. I bowed again.

"Thank you Lady Summoner." She nodded, smiling with that certain glow. "If I may ask you something?" I stood up from my bow.

"Alright." She crossed her arms just ever so slightly.

"Who was that man who summoned that creature?"

"That was one of the Maesters of Yevon. Maester Seymour of the Guado."

"One more question, why are all these people guarding you?" I heard her chuckle.

"Those are my guardians. The protect me while I am on my pilgrimage to defeat SIN to bring the eternal calm." I nodded understanding. So someone is trying to get rid of this evil.

"If you don't mind, may I talk to someone in your group privately?"

"Do you know him?" 'How did she know I meant-' I nodded yes to answer her question. She smiled again and gestured to say it was alright. I turned around praying the red haired guardian didn't recognize me. I walked up behind Tidus and hugged him tightly. I felt him jump, but he turned around and his eyes widened. He took my hand and pulled me out of earshot of the group. I began to sob profusely. I had my Tidus back. He took me in his arms and held me as I cried. "I thought- I'd lost for- real this time." I continued to cry. "I'm- so glad- th-that you're okay." He wiped my tears away.

"There's no need to cry. I'm back now." We kissed deeply not caring who saw.

"Ti, promise me that we'll see each other again okay?" he looked confused."I have to go with Rikku." He looked a little hurt, but understood. "I- I-"he took me by surprise with another kiss.

"I understand. I bought you something. Somehow, I felt that you were still alive." He pulled out a chain with a chocobo and cactuar charm dangling from the necklace. I felt like I was going to cry some more. That's the last thing I wanted. I turned around and he placed it around my neck. I took off the blitzball necklace and put around his neck. "Think of me and I'll think of you okay? We'll be sure to find each other that way." I got an idea. I pulled out two Al Bhed communicators and handed one to him.

"We can talk to each other everyday with these. They don't work in all the places though, but it's worth a shot." He stuck it right in his pocket as did I. We embraced tightly then and then shared a deep kiss that seemed to make time stop. We pulled out, a little winded after that kiss. We were afraid to let go of each others hands, but in our hearts we knew we would find each other again.

I left and went out to the harbors and saw Rikku was waiting. "There you are! I've been waiting forever. What happened?"

"I was talking to Tidus, I wanted to go with him, but the time wasn't right. Something in my heart was telling me I had more that I needed to do." She took my arm and we began walking to where the Psyches ship was. She nodded understanding. We began to round a corner and heard someone talking and we ducked behind some wooden crates. It was Tidus and Auron. Rikku and I just sat there listening to their converstation.

"Hey you! Don't stand there! All of this is your fault! Gettin' me and Sanako swallowed by Sin! Us ending up here in Spira! Not being able to go back to Zanarkand--everything, everything! I'm telling you it's all your fault! Auron chuckled loudly after Tidus said this."Who are you, anyway?" Auron didn't reply. "You knew my old man, didn't you?'' my heart began to race.

"Yeah."

"And you also knew Yuna's father?"

"That's correct."

"Hey, man, there's no way. That's just impossible."

"Nothing impossible about it. Jecht, Braska and I... Together we defeated Sin ten years ago. Then I went to Zanarkand... where I watched over you and especially Sanako. So that one day I could bring you two to Spira."

"Why did it have to be us?"

"Jecht asked me to."

"Is he alive?"

"It depends on what you mean by "alive." He is no longer human. But then... I felt something of Jecht, there in that shell... couldn't you? You must have felt him when you came in contact with Sin." It's true. I did feel something, but it' couldn't be could it?

"It can't be..."

"It is. Sin is Jecht." No, I said to myself and obviously Tidus felt the same way I did just now.

"No! That's ridiculous! No way! I don't believe you! "

"But it is the truth. You'll see for yourself. Come with me."

"If I say no? "

"Every story must have an ending." This included me. I now wanted to make myself known and let them know I heard everything, but my legs wouldn't move.

"I don't care about your stories!"

"I see. Sorry you feel that way. Fine, then. Come or don't come. It's your decision." Tidus shouted as loud as he could.

"RRrrraaaaaaghhh! What am I supposed to say!? You tell me it's my decision...But I don't have a choice, do I? You're the only one who can tell me what's going on, anyways! I have to go with you! I have to!"

"Irritating, I know. Or are you afraid? Tidus didn't say a word. "It's all right."

"Auron? Will Sanako and I ever go home? Back to Zanarkand?"

"That's up to Jecht. I'm going to offer my services to Yuna. Come."

"Auron, one more thing, what did you mean by especially watching over Sanako?" I heard Auron sigh and then something he said shocked the hell out of me. It made cool tears run down my cheeks.

"Sanako's- Sanako's my daughter."

* * *

So how was that ending huh? if you don't like it or if it doesn't fit i'll take it out, but i thought that my mom died and auron put me with a good family before he went off to spira. this would make me seven so i wouldn't really have any memory of real parents. something like that.i know i'm full al bhed, but there is a small percentage that that could have happened. that my mom being al bhed had the domninant traits and in a way, i have a few traits of auron. not sure what they are. i'll have to add them further on in the story. just tell me what you think and what you liked, didn't like, or send me ideas for the next chapter.

i sorta have writers block again. danngit! i know what i want to happen, but not sure how to put. talk at ya later!

p.s. as for spelling and all that and cannon errors i'll fix them later. but if you find something let me know! much appreciated! ^-^


	6. Operation Mi'ihen

Here it is chapter 6. Sadly, nothing is exchanged between me and Auron about what he said. I'm saving that for later. Oops gave something away, but luckily not too much. I don't really have anything to say, but this story is about to get real interesting when it comes to chapter 7. Mwahahahahahaha! Er- anyway, on with the story! * Final fantasy victory fanfare*

* * *

Operation Mi'ihen

'Sanako's my daughter.' Those words just continued to ring in my head the next day. We had joined up with Cid halfway on another ship to discuss a mission that Rikku and I would take part in today, along with several others. I couldn't focus on anything that Cid said. All I could think about was how the people I came to know and love, weren't my real parents. Auron was my real dad. He placed me in a family when I was 7. It had to have been that age because of the math involved. And it made perfect sense even more because I couldn't remember anything from that far back.

"Sanako, did you hear me?" I came out of my deep thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking, could you repeat that?"

"We were discussing positions for Operation Mi'ihen. You'll be stationed on the cliffs with Rikku and you'll be running the cannons." I nodded. "We're on our way there as we speak. He noticed I was once again staring off into space. I knew that he was getting frustrated. Cid set his pencil down on top of the plans for Mi'ihen, he asked everyone to go rest up before the operation. Rikku hugged me quickly and then left herself. Cid leaned against his desk. "Spill. What happened in Luca? You've been staring into space since late yesterday." I was hesitant, but then I told him everything except for the part involving Auron. He saw through my lie. "I know that's not what's really bothering you. You know I have a daughter right. 5'2'' blonde hair, bubbly personality, your best friend. Ring a bell?"

"I-I-" I tried to get the right words out, but I lied again. This time he believed it. "I wanna know why summoners have to be kidnapped. What's so bad about the pilgrimage? They're trying to save Spira, why are we trying to stop them?" he pinched the bridge of his nose and then began to tell what he knew. He told me all about summoners, the pilgrimages. Where they kept the summoners when they were successful at kidnapping them. And finally what befell the summoners at the end of their journey. I clinched my fists so tight my fingers turned red. How could someone want to kill themselves for only 10 years of peace? They didn't even get to enjoy it. There's gotta be a way to stop SIN from coming back for good.

"That's no good if they're going to kill themselves. How can I help?" I said seriously. "The dying for peace has to stop. I have to do something." He laughed.

"Well, I have a mission I've almost completed the plans for, but you'll have to wait after Mi'ihen." He looked out the large ship window. "You'd better go change. Make sure to wear your salvage suit. Those clothes are too flimsy for battle." I was donning the outfit that I wore the first day I was here. "It'll give you more protection." I got up and went to go out the door. My hand hovered over the knob, but I turned back around, tears now running down my face. I wiped them away.

"I'm sorry Cid, I lied to you." My head hung low. I couldn't look him in the eyes. He made his way over and stood in front of me. "I mean, I did want to know about the summoners, but that's not what was bothering me. Something-" my sentence trailed off.

"Sanako what is it?" he put his hands on my shoulders.

"My-my father's alive." I felt him crouch to my height. I looked into his eyes.

"How do you know? Are you sure?"

"In Luca, Rikku and I overheard a conversation between Tidus and Sir Auron."

"The Sir Auron?" I nodded.

"He's-he's…Auron's my father!" I began to sob profusely and he took me in his fatherly arms. I began to shake from my crying. He rubbed my back.

"It' alright."

"After all these years…I just thought…he.. I wanna know why he didn't say anything!" I shouted through angry sobs.

"He probably had his reasons. The best thing to do is confront him. Ask him why he did what he did. And always remember, you'll always have a place here. You can always come back to us if things get too hard."

"Are you alright Sana?" Rikku asked as we walked the path to reach the top of the cliffs where our stations at Mi'ihen were.

"Huh? Uh…yeah. I'm fine. It's just that after all this time, I find out that my parents weren't my real parents you know? After all this time, I thought that Auron was just someone who watched over Ti and I, but I find out that he's much more than that. He's my father. It's just a lot to take in such a short time." I smiled meekly so I wouldn't sadden her. We finally reached the top of the cliffs and saw a ton of Al Bhed and people clad in armor riding on chocobo's. "Who are they?" she answered without me having to point.

"Those people are what we call crusaders. They're going to help with the attempt to destroy SIN today." I nodded. "We'd better check out our individual weapons to make sure that they're working properly and then we can sit down for a while before the operation begins." It took a good 10 minutes of checking the whole system before I could sit down. This was only because it had been a while since I worked on anything extensive, including the Salvage ship. When I used to do it all the time, I could check any type of machina in 45 seconds flat. I brushed my hands off and went over to a rock wall, sat down with my back up against it. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and just as I did so, someone appeared in front of me with a bottle of water.

"Long time no see Rikku's friend?" I began to laugh and took the bottled water from his hand.

"It's only been like 4 days Gip." He sat next to me.

"It feels like it's been a lot longer."I began to chug down the water and then I felt it get pulled away from my lips.

"Hey!"I tried to get it back, but he held it out of my reach. "I'm thirsty you know!"

"You need to take it easy. You'll make yourself sick." He twisted the cap back on. I realized that I would have to tell him eventually.

"Gip?"

"Yeah?"I knew he could sense the tension in my voice.

"I-I found Tidus." My head hung low, but he lifted it back up.

"It's alright. As long as you're happy, I'm happy." I wish he wouldn't say things like that. It only makes it worse. We both stood up and I went to walk away, but he grabbed my arm. "I wonder if-" I saw him blush lightly. "If it would be- too much to ask for- just one m-more kiss?" my heart skipped a beat. Did he really just… I mean I don't see the harm, but I shouldn't. I won't. I was going to tell him my answer, but I found his soft lips already pressed against mine. I deepened it only for a minute and pulled out.

"Why- you-" he spoke before I could become angry with him.

"I always wondered what sunshine tasted like." He said with a toothy smile. I felt all of the air leave my lungs, like getting the wind knocked out of you. I turned a deep shade of pink and placed my hands over my mouth. My heart was beating out of my chest and I found that I couldn't move. "Before I go, if that Tidus guy ever makes you cry, he'd better watch his back." He walked away, leaving me like the immovable stone I had become.

* * *

Meanwhile:

Rikku was walking over to where Sanako was when she accidently bumped into someone. She looked up and saw it was Gippal. "Oh! I'm so sorry Gippal. What's up?"

"Nothing much, just talking to Sana. She seems pretty out of it now." He chuckled lightly and licked his lips. Rikku put her hands on her hips and became serious.

"What did you do?" she furrowed her brow.

"I-I kissed her." Rikku crossed her arms and shook her head. "I know."

"You're getting in too deep Gippal."

"I can't help it." He ruffled her hair. "You'll understand someday." Then he walked away smiling.

"When will you see it huh? You big dummy. I already understand. Can't you see how I feel?" she whispered to herself.

* * *

My hear began to speed up. They had just dropped the SINSPAWN into the water. My arm began to sting a little. SIN was coming. I heard Cid's voice call out. "Bnabyna du vena."(Prepare to fire) he raised his hand. SIN burst out of the water. My heart was now in my throat especially since I was positioned at one of the front cannons and Rikku was in the back. SIN was approaching fast. Cid brought his hand down. "Vena‼!"(Fire‼!) The cannons fired at once hitting SIN pushing him back. SIN sent several SINSPAWN into the water. The crusaders went racing foreword.

"Charge‼!" the machina gun fired and went head to head with SIN's shield, but SIN had too much power and. The gun and the people inside it exploded. My heart began to hurt. SIN the transferred his power and sent an explosive shield out. I watched the shores below, Al Bhed and Crusaders disintegrating before my very eyes. I heard people running away from the cannons. Rikku called out my name, but it was too late. My body froze and I couldn't move. The shockwave from SIN hit the cliff and I lost my balance and went over the side of the rocky wall.

* * *

"Uggghhh…my head." I stood up a little disoriented. I tried to get my bearings and remembered I had gone off the side of the cliff. I gazed around seeing over 300 bodies along the beach. My eyes caught a certain tanned body. 'Please don't be-'I shook the thought from mind and ran over to him. Just as I made it to Tidus, he sat up. I pulled my goggles down around my neck. "You're okay. Thank God." He took me in his arms.

"I had a feeling you'd be here." He kissed me full on the scratched I had received on my forehead. He let go and then ran off towards the water. I knew what he was doing and I grabbed him from behind, stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't do it. You'll get your chance. It's not worth getting yourself killed kay? I still need you." I let him go and he turned around and began to hold me in his arms. We held each other for the longest time. I kissed him full on the lips and he began to chuckle. "What?"

"It's just that's the first time you kissed me. Usually it's the other way around." He tweaked my nosed and then gave me another kiss. I looked over and saw the girl with brown hair and the other guardians coming onto the beach. Including Auron. I couldn't face him just yet.

"Tidus I have to go make sure Rikku knows I'm okay." He squeezed me tightly.

'I wish you could come with us." I ran my fingers through his hair and he kissed my neck.

"I know. Soon, I promise." We had one more passionate kiss and then went our separate ways.

* * *

As I was walking on a path, I had found, leading back up to where everyone else was and I stopped. I saw that the kimono girl seemed as if she was dancing. I saw glowing orbs covering the beach. 'So this is what a sending looks like.' I began to feel sad and out of place. I knew as soon as I saw it, I didn't ever want to ever see this girl dance again.

"Sanako!" Rikku came running up and hugged me tightly. "Everyone was so worried about you. We searched everywhere for you! I'm so glad you're all right!" I hugged her back. She noticed the scratch on my forehead. "Does it hurt? Do you want me to fix it?"

"I'm fine." We began heading to the ship. "Do you know if the next mission is ready to put into motion yet?"

"Yeah. We have to leave immediately once we get back to the ship. Why?" I looked at her and then back at the horizon.

"I'm ready for Summoners to stop dancing."

* * *

I know it's a little dry, but it shouldn't be that way after this chapter. It should be much better. After all, Rikku and I will be joining Yuna's group. That's when the serious stuff starts to happen. Ta ta for now!

oh, one more thing. notice i slipped a hinted later to be rippal in this chapter although right now it's onesided. there's your piece of candy rippal fans. i'm not a super huge fan when it comes to rippal but i will read on that couple sometimes and when i do it's very well done. anyway, see you in the next chapter!


	7. Moonflow

Ahhhh… the illustrious chapter 7. This is where it starts to get good! I don't have much to say except for the fact that I am sorry for not updating sooner. I know you are about ready to kill me, so I am going to do my best to post the 8th chapter right after this one as an apology gift. ^-^ Oh yeah! My first con is coming up! March 27-29 in st Louis Missouri! Hurray for Astl!(anime st Louis) I have two cosplays lined up. Haruhi Fujoka from Ouran High School, Sayu Yagmi. I am so ready for the con. I wish it was sooner but I have to be patient. On with the show! *final fantasy victory fanfare*

Oh and there's going to be a secret author I mention here in a few paragraphs, but not in Spiran. I won't tell you who it is until the end of the chapter hahahahaha! Okay now start reading. No seriously, start reading.

Wait, just one more thing, there's going to be one part in here that is in Tidus' point of view so I could tell the story, and then it will switch back to Sanako's.

* * *

Moonflow

"Do we need anything else?" I said grabbing some more food and throwing it into our duffle bag.

"I don't think so. We've got our suits on and enough food to get us there and back."

"Well then, let's go." Rikku and I headed down to the cargo hold in the ship. We found her father, Brother, Gippal, and a couple others were waiting for us.

"You two ready?" Cid asked as we approached the extractor. We both nodded. "You'll be connected by communicators. Gippal, Brother and Keyyaku will give you the signal when to move."

"Hmmm!" I said nodding.

"You tow be careful."

"Dad we're not babies." Rikku teased her worried father as we climbed into the machina. It was much smaller inside than out, but we managed. Gippal's head appeared over the hole.

"Good luck girls." He closed the lid and twisted it shut we strapped our seats. I spoke through the communicator.

"Okay, drop us in." I heard garbled speech in return.

"Kay…brace…self." There was a loud buzzer and we felt the machina hit the water and jerk us around a bit.

"Prepare yourself for a couple hours of nothing but blue and seaweed."

"Way ahead of you." I pulled out a book I had found in the ships library. I read for a while in the silence and then I decided to break the tension. "Perchance is the summoner that we are bringing back with us related to you?" I could see the shock in her face. I don't know how I knew, but when you got to looking, Rikku and the summoner that healed my arm had similar facial features.

"How did you know about Yunie?" I shrugged. "Y-yeah. She's my cousin."

"I don't know exactly, but somehow I felt something telling me to keep that brown haired girl in mind. To not forget her." Then the silence reappeared and about an hour later, it was my turn to drive. I noticed she had begun to read my book and by her face, I could tell she had never read it before. "So do you like it?" she jumped and I began giggling.

"It's really scary, but it's so good."

"Yeah I'm particularly fond of Cdabrah Gehk. His stories are so good and keep you on the edge of your seat." She nodded in agreement. About 2 hours later, we arrived at our destination. There was that awkward silence again. I unbuckled and she did the same. We decide to have a little lunch, we carried on laughing at stories she told me about Brother, and the same thing goes for Tidus. Amongst our laughing, we heard garbled speech through the speaker. "Gippal?"

"Y…yeah. We're…ready. Get ready. We're about to…kidnap the summoner off the Shoopuff." 'What the hell is a shoopuff?' I shook the thought out of my mind and started up the machina. The cogs and gears clicked as the machine woke up. I cleared my mind and became serious, as well as Rikku. A few moments went by and then we felt something hit the extractor. "Whoa." Keyyaku came in on the speaker.

"Fa zicd bmylat dra cissuhan eh dra creamt, pid ed muugc mega fa'ja kud cusa lusbyho. Oui dfu paddan pa bnabynat du vekrd."( We just placed the summoner in the shield, but it looks like we've got some company. You two better be prepared to fight.)

"Nekrd!"(Right!) I turned to Rikku. "You ready?" she nodded. I turned back around facing the small window and I saw whom our opponents were. My hands slid off of the levers. I couldn't fight, not against…

"Sanako, What are you waiting for?" she looked out the window and saw why I wasn't doing anything. "I know this is hard, but I need to get my cousin to safety. He'll be all right I promise." She placed a hand on my shoulder. 'I'm sorry Ti, please make out okay.' I prayed, not exactly sure to whom. I began pushing and pulling levers and buttons. The red haired man and Tidus put up a good fight, eventually winning. The summoner was released from the shield and the extractor began to sink. It had begun to fill up with water. "Rikku, you get out first."

"But-"

"Just go you stubborn girl. I'll be right behind you, I promise." I smiled at her and she smiled back before exiting the extractor. I went to get out myself, but I found that I couldn't. my foot had gotten wedged between two of the levers that controlled the ship. 'Don't panic, you can get out of this.' The water was now up to my chest. I took a deep breath and went under the water, trying to get my foot unstuck. It was no use. I resurfaced, the water now up to my neck. I could only pray someone would save me, or I'd really die this time and there would be nothing to stop death from coming either.

* * *

Tidus POV:

We made it back onto the Shoopuff with everyone's limbs in tact. Of course we had to listen to Wakka complain about the Al Bhed taking Yuna, but what was the point. The event had already passed. The shoopuff finally arrived at the other side of the shore and everyone got off. Lulu, Wakka, Kimahri, and Yuna stood at a little shop and Auron stayed by shoopuff stand. I went off and walked down the path scouting and making sure the way was clear of fiends so we wouldn't have to fight as much. I came onto a small clearing and saw the body of a girl dressed in a wetsuit that seemed very familiar. I walked closer to it and the girl stood up miraculously unharmed. She began to strip down out of her wetsuit and I became a little embarrassed at what the girl was doing. As soon as she took of her mask, I knew exactly who it was. Sanako's new friend, Rikku.

"Ah! I thought I was done for, back there." I smiled widely and I think I may have scared her with my enthusiasm.

"Rikku! You're Rikku! Hey! You're okay! How you been?" she was still on the ground, so I crouched down to her height.

"Terrible!" she shook her head.

"Yeah, you don't look so good. What happened?" she looked at me with an eyebrow raised and the pointed at me furiously.

"You beat me up, remember?" I fell backwards losing my balance and then I stood up and she followed suit.

"Oh! That machina... That was you?" she rubbed her neck some more and then spoke.

"Mm-hm. That really hurt, you know. You big meanie!"

"W-Wait! But you attacked us!"

"Nuh-uh. It's not exactly what you think." I noticed that her attitude changed and she looked as though she was looking for someone. "Oh my God! Where is she?" Rikku looked as though she was about to cry. I put my hands on her shoulders.

"Where is who?"

"Sanako!" tears began to roll down her cheeks. "She was in that machina with me. She said she'd be right behind me, but she wasn't!" I felt an adrenaline rush come on. I heard Wakka call after me as I jumped in the water, but I didn't reply. I had to save Sanako. I've come too far to lose the one I love.

* * *

The water had filled the extractor as far as it would go. Now I was using the breathing techniques I had learned from Tidus for Blitzball, but not even that would hold out for long. I felt my lungs burning from lack of oxygen. I opened my mouth releasing the last of my oxygen, water finding its way into my lungs. Maybe drowning was a good way to go. At least I wouldn't feel any pain. I began to see darkness, but then out of nowhere, there was a bright light. Oddly enough, it sort of looked like Tidus. I couldn't hang on and blacked out.

* * *

I pulled her out of the extractor as fast I could, unhinging her foot, and then swimming to the surface as quick as I could. I made sure her head stayed above water. I got closer to the shore and Wakka ran into the water and took her from me and placed her easily on the ground. I could see the worry on Auron's face, but it wasn't enough to alert anyone else. I shot the worried father a look, saying not to worry. I reached the blonde's fragile body. I placed to fingers on her neck, she wasn't dead yet, but her pulse was very weak. I began to give her mouth to mouth. I held back my tears. "Sanako! Come on! Breath Dammit!" after I said this, she rolled onto her side. I breathed out a sigh of relief knowing that my girl was okay.

* * *

I felt something pushing on my chest. I rolled over and threw up for a good 5 minutes, getting rid of all the water that had entered my body. I felt someone take me into his or her arms. I looked into the person's eyes. Rikku was weeping with joy. She said something I had never thought she would ever say. "Don't you ever scare me like that again you ass!" I laughed my lungs still stinging a little.

"But, I told you I would be out after you didn't I?" she gave me a soft punch. She let go and I rubbed my head. I tried to stand up but I fell forward and I felt something catch me. It was that blue Ronso. "Thank you." The creature nodded and let me go when I could stand. There was an awkward silence and then the red haired man spoke to Tidus.

"Yo! Friends of yours?" I heard Tidus chuckle.

"Yeah, you could say that." I walked over and stood next to Tidus. No one else saw him place his hand on my lower back. 'So he still loves me. He hasn't fallen in love with that pretty summoner.'

"Pleased to meet you! I'm Rikku!" she stuck her hand in the air and brought it back down.

"And I'm Sanako."

"So Sanako, you okay? Do wanna rest considering that you almost drowned ya?" I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine."

"Yuna…Lulu I told you about them remember? They helped me when before I got washed up on Besaid. They're Al Bhe…bhe…" he laughed nervously. I shot him a look and pinched him. "Ow! Sorry." He whispered and I smiled deviously. Yuna and Lulu gasped at the same time.

"So you like owe these two your life! What luck meeting here ya? Praise be to Yevon." Rikku and I watched him do some sort of prayer. Rikku scratched her cheek. We were a little skeptical about Wakka. He'd probably be the one that we shouldn't talk to so much. He might figure it out and since our run in at Luca; I sensed he had a divine hatred for the Al Bhed. I whispered to Rikku.

"We need to go to plan b." she shook her head. Plan B: become Yuna's guardians. Luckily at that moment Lulu spoke.

"Uh, Wakka…"

"Huh? What?" I smiled to myself. Man, maybe we could get away without him finding out what Rikku and I were.

"There's something that we need to discuss." Yuna said sweetly and coolly.

"Oh, go ahead." Rikku ran over to Yuna and Lulu, I followed.

"Girls only! Boys please wait over there!" I laughed and linked arms with her. I returned her playful punch from earlier. Lulu spoke up.

"Right. Sorry, Wakka."

"Huh? What?" we four girls walked away to a small clearing away from the guys.

"I'm sorry, but before we start talking, I have to get out of this suit." I struggled to get out of the suit, but Yuna came over to help me.

"You're the girl from Luca. The one with many questions." I heard her chuckle and I blushed lightly. She got the zipper to where I could reach it.

"Thank you." I shimmied out of the suit. They really worked well. My clothes that I thought would be soaked to the bone were actually dry. I tossed it aside. We all began to speak and concluded that Rikku and I should become Yuna's guardians. We all walked back over to the guys and Yuna spoke.

"Sir Auron…I would like Sanako and Rikku to become my guardians." I shuttered when she said his name. I felt my anger festering inside my heart. He strode over to Rikku and me. She put her head down, while I kept mine up. He already knew of my lineage. He had better damn well know, I'm his daughter for machina's sake!

"Show me your face. Look at me." I looked at him full on.

"Oh, okay." Rikku lifted her head, but kept her eyes closed. I nudged her to give her some encouragement.

"Open your eyes." She only opened one, revealing her swirly pupils that resembled mine.

"As I thought." What was that supposed to mean? That was kind of an insult to the both of us.

"No good?" we said at the same time.

"Are you two certain?" I nodded and Rikku spoke.

"A hundred percent! So, anyway…can we?"

"If Yuna wishes it."

"I do." She replied to his statement. Wakka groaned, obviously not happy with the two additions to the already large group.

"These two are really great Wakka." Tidus spoke up. "They helped me out a lot." Rikku nodded wildly in agreement.

"He's right!" I said holding up a pointer finger. That seemed to convince him now that I wasn't being so quiet. He became less tense.

"Well, I'm for it! The more the merrier!" I felt Rikku jump on my back and throw her hands in the air.

"Righto! Then we'll just have to be the merriest huh Sanako?" I nodded, as I tried to get her off my back. We pulled a back-to-back pose and spoke at the same time. "Rikku and Sanako at your service." I saw Tidus smiling and I walked over to him and pulled him over to the side. We made sure no one saw, then we went into a deep kiss.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to do that." I smiled. He brushed my hair away from neck and then kissed me lightly there.

"Me too. Next time you get into a machina, don't get any limbs stuck. It makes it much harder to rescue you." He smiled and then threw me over his shoulder and pretended to drop. I squealed drawing the others, attention and they began to laugh. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

so how was it? send comments and etc. on to typing the next chapter!

Oh! and the secret author mentioned earlier on the chapter is: Stephen King.

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	8. Guadosalam

Wow‼‼ It's been a long time since I've updated anything! Well there's a reason for that, something was going on in my family and I had to drop everything. I won't prattle on about it, but I missed a week's worth of school so I may not update again for a while or at least until I am caught up on my schoolwork. Hope you enjoy this chapter! And you'd better, it was very hard to write! Just kidding! But it was hard to write, I kept getting stuck at the part with the Farplane, I finally worked out the kinks though. On with the reading. *final fantasy victory fanfare*

One more thing, just so i don't get in trouble with fanfiction, the rating of this story has changed from K+ to T for certain themes now present in the story.

* * *

Guadosalam

We made our way to the entrance of the next destination. Guadosalam. We were, or more like Yuna, was met by one of the Guado named Tromell. I found it to be rather suspicious, but I kept my suspicions to myself.

"We've been expecting you Lady Yuna. Welcome to Guadosalam. This way, my lady. This way." I saw the man reach for Yuna's hand and I felt part of my nose scowl in disgust.

"Uh, me?" she asked quietly. Apparently, Wakka had the same idea I did.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he intercepted the hand. Tromell bowed and apologized.

"Oh, I beg your pardon. I'm called Tromell Guado. I am in the direct service of our leader, the great Seymour Guado. Lord Seymour has very important business with Lady Yuna." Humph. Business indeed and that name? Sounds like this person is just asking for trouble whoever he was.

"Business with me? Whatever could it be, I wonder?" I could see the others were just as impatient as I was. Rikku more so than any of us.

"Please, come inside the manor. All will be explained. Of course, your friends are also welcome." I saw him eye me in a way that he knew my race and that he was disgusted that I would be walking on the same Guado soil as he was. I stared back at him the same way. Rikku expressed her aggravation.

"Twist our arms why don't ya! Oh guys, I almost forgot." She showed us how she could customize weapons real quick before we followed Tromell into Guadosalam.

* * *

We were led inside and straight into Seymour's manor. Tromell left us in the front hallway until he fetched Lord Seymour. Auron seemed to tense up. "Stay close to Yuna." He informed us all. It seems everyone, but Yuna was feeling uneasy about Seymour.

"I wonder what smells so nice!" 'Leave it to Rikku to think about filling up her stomach at a time like this.' I felt my stomach growl as well. Okay, maybe it's not such a bad thing. Rikku and I haven't eaten in a while and obviously, the others had. Tidus came over and poked me in the ribs.

"Hey!" I noticed that he pulled out an orange that was pre-peeled and handed it to me. I slipped him a kiss, thanked him for the food, and proceeded to eat it. The juices felt so nice against my throat. "Thank you so much!" I whispered and then I grabbed a hold of his middle. He wrapped his arms around my middle and then we shared another quick kiss. We let go, but we continued to hold hands.

"Why does he want to see me?" Yuna spoke a loud. Suddenly the blue Ronso spoke and this surprised me a little bit.

"Kimahri not like Maester Seymour." Yuna was obviously taken aback.

"Aa! Kimahri! Shhh!"

"Kimahri speak no more."

"I don't like the smell of this one, eh?" I nodded in agreement with Wakka. I noticed Lulu eyeing a photo of someone who looked rather familiar. The man that summoned that thing in Luca. Tidus and I walked over to where she was.

"These are the past leaders of the Guado."

"They all look the same!" Tidus stated

"Yeah, they do." I paused.

"Maester Seymour doesn't look like them, though." 'So this portrait is of the man we're supposed to meet.' I spoke.

"Why is that?"

"Don't you know? The last leader..." she pointed to a portrait on the other side of the room. "Maester Jyscal wed a human woman. She was Seymour's mother." The boys made an 'Oooooh' sound and I giggled at their faces. A few moments later, Tromell entered the room.

"This way, please." We followed the snooty Guado to the banquet hall and found tables of every food and drink imaginable. He spoke up again. "I will go inform Lord Seymour. Please wait here." 'I thought he already did that.' I rolled my eyes and sat down next to Auron. Not my first choice. I tried to talk to Kimahri who was on my left but he only said one sentence.

"Kimahri speak no more. " I turned and watched everyone for a few moments, but then turned to my thoughts, only to have them interrupted by Auron.

"You never answered my question in Luca." He asked, more like stated, gruffly. I felt my intense anger begin to rise again like a flame fueled by gasoline.

"What question?" I asked irritated.

"How's your story coming along?" My nose twitched and I looked at the man so coldly, I could have sworn saw him shudder. I heard Wakka say something, but dismissed it. I felt my heart rate quicken and myself breathing speed up. I spoke in a huff.

"It's coming along just fine, no thanks to you!" I stood up quickly, my chair falling over and breaking the few moments of silence that was had. I faced him with a scowl, my angry breath in his direction. "But why pray tell would you care!?" I felt everyone's eyes on us. I just couldn't take it anymore. I snapped. My eyes were full of tears, but I refused to give him the satisfaction that I was weak and I was going to cry. "I heard what you told Tidus that day on the docks! Why didn't you tell me!?" I clinched his jacket as tight as I could in my angry hands. The tears tried to fall down my cheeks, but I wouldn't let them. I felt Tidus place on my back.

"Sanako." I shook my head; I didn't need to be comforted.

"I have to know. Why didn't you tell me?" I knew everyone else besides Auron and Tidus were confused. "Why didn't- you tell me you were-" 'Dammit. I'm crying.' I felt the tears roll furiously down my tanned skin. I saw something change in Auron's face for a few brief seconds. He seemed torn. Then he surprised me with his next gesture. He gently took my hands off his jacket, then took his resting arm out of his jacket, and with his hands, wiped away my tears. I wanted to revel in that caring fatherly moment he had, but I remembered that I was still angry. I gritted my teeth and spoke in a firm tone. "Answer me." I saw him revert to the unemotional state he had been in a few moments ago.

"We'll talk later. What's taking them so long?" I stepped back. How could he just brush me off like that? I closed my eyes and then I walked over to a mirror that happened to be in the room. I got to looking at myself, I looked the same as always, but then I noticed something that hadn't been apparent to me before. I leaned in closer to the mirror until my face was about an inch away. I examined my eyes. They were green of course with the swirly black pupils, but it was what was around my pupils that I hadn't ever noticed. A strong, dark, amount of blue. I was part Spiran. I was in fact Auron's daughter and there was no way I was going to be able to change that. I glanced back over at Auron and when he caught my gaze, I quickly looked away, blushing with frustration. I continued to revel in my thoughts and the more I thought about how Auron's personality and traits were, the more I realized how much I was like him. My sarcasm, seriousness, the ability to pick up things like sword fighting quicker than others do. The blueness of my eyes, my mouth shape, being silent for long periods. I wonder where my real mom is and if I look more like her than I do my d- Auron. Tromell came and my thoughts were yet again interrupted.

"Truly, it is good to have guests again. Since Lord Jyscal passed away, these halls have been too quiet. "The Guado stated.

"The death of Lord Jyscal was a great loss for all of Spira." Yuna said in soft tone.

"Was this Maester Jyscal really such a great guy?" I listened just like Tidus after he had asked his intrepid question, wondering just who this Jyscal person was.

"He brought the teachings of Yevon to the Guado. He was truly a great man." Wakka said telling backing up the importance of Lord Jyscal.

"Truly, a loss for us all. But now a new leader, Lord Seymour, has come before us. Lord Seymour is the child of a Guado and a human. He will be the tie that binds our two races together. But that is not all, I think. Lord Seymour… He will surely become the shining star that lights the way for all the peoples of Spira." After Tromell finished, a rather tall Guado made his way onto the steps. He was rather handsome and his features were soft, but I saw beyond that. I noticed that evil smirk that he played off as a friendly smile and the others believed it. This person really gave me the creeps. A shiver went up my spine. The way his voice sounded really confirmed my suspicions of him being sneaky.

"That is enough, Tromell. Must I always endure such praise?" he did that Yevon prayer that Wakka pulled earlier that day. "Welcome!"

"You...wanted to see me?" I walked away from the mirror and stood next to Tidus.

"Please, make yourselves at home. There's no rush." I rolled my eyes. 'How could she not see?' I could tell Seymour was doing everything in his power to make us stay longer than we had to.

"Please, keep this short. Yuna must rush." In short, I hated agreeing with the man that screwed up my life, but I nodded in agreement.

"Pardon me. It has been a long time since I had guests. Lady Yuna, this way." He led us down a long hallway. I took Tidus' hand tightly. He looked at me and I knew he could tell I was afraid. He smiled to say it's okay, I'm here. He kissed me lightly on the lips. We walked through a door and then the room began to swarm with color. Soon, I could clearly see what this place was. It was our home, Zanarkand. "This sphere is a reconstruction created from the thoughts of the dead that wander the Farplane." Tidus spoke aloud confirming it

"Zanarkand." My knees began to shake. Tidus saw this and embraced me tightly. I put my forehead to his chest. I began to cry lightly and shake from sobbing. I wanted to go home. Back to when Tidus and I had no worries, but we couldn't get home. There wasn't a way back. I felt Rikku rub my back, trying to comfort me because she knew what it was like. I looked at Tidus and shook my head, letting him know that I was okay now. He let go, but kept holding my hand. I wiped away my tears and smiled at her.

"I'm all right." We went back to gazing at Zanarkand.

"Correct. Zanarkand...as it looked one thousand years ago. The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand. She once lived in this metropolis." Auron made a scoffing noise.

"She, who?" Yuna asked shyly. The room once again began to swirl with pinks, blues, yellows, and purples, finally setting on a new scene. A woman walked into the room.

"Lady Yunalesca!" The rest of us listened to the conversation between Seymour and Yuna. Learning about Yunalesca and her past.

"She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages. And you have inherited her name."

"It was my father who named me."

"Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task. He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady

Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat the undefeatable Sin...it took an unbreakable bond of love-- of the kind that binds two hearts for eternity." Seymour presented the Yevonite bow and then proceeded to whisper into Yuna's ear. I saw her turn beat red. We headed back to the banquet hall and Yuna rushed over to one of the tables, grabbed a glass of water, and gulped it down. I stepped over to her. I knew exactly what he had asked. He had asked her to marry him, I just know it. I spoke to her in a whisper and she nodded proving my guess true. I stood off to her side.

"Wow! Your face is beet red!" Rikku said in her bubbly voice. I glanced over at Seymour, shuddered, and then back over to Yuna.

"You okay?" Tidus asked curiously. Yuna looked at me and I nodded my head to say you need to tell the others.

"Mm...ahh... I... He...he asked me to marry him!" she turned red again, but it passed and she went back to her normal color.

"You serious?" he paused and the yelled at Seymour. "Hey!" There was something that worried me in my boyfriend's voice though, he sounded like he's falling in lov- no. he's not. He loves me and he meant it. I shook the thought out of my head and scooted a couple feet closer to Yuna. Auron spoke in a firm tone.

"You know what Yuna must do."

"Of course. Lady Yuna--no, all summoners--are charged with bringing peace to Spira. But this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a Maester of Yevon." Every time this man spoke, he just aggravated the living day lights out me and I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Spira is no playhouse. A moment's diversion may amuse an audience, but it changes nothing." Auron hit everything back that Seymour said, but then Seymour would stump Auron right back.

"Even so, the actors must play their parts." He began to walk over to where Yuna and I were standing. I felt my breath go cold and it become hard to breathe when he got close. What is it about this guy exactly? "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over." I scowled at him once he got as close to Yuna as possible. Luckily, no one else saw me do so, but he noticed this, grabbed my arm, and whispered into my ear. "I wouldn't do that again if I were you. You may lose something dear to you." I saw him look over to Tidus and back at me. My eyes widened at his comment and he let go smiling, pleased that he was successful in scaring me. Yuna only stammered. Auron spoke getting straight to the point. Thank Yevon. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Just cause I don't believe in it doesn't mean I can't use the name right?

"We will do so, then." He cleared his throat and continued. "We leave." Seymour had the audacity to speak again before we exited the door.

"Lady Yuna, I await your favorable reply." I saw him take a deep breath. "Why are you still here, sir?" I saw Auron stiffen. I swore I saw him frown. He usually frowns yes, but this one was different, he looked guilty somehow. "I beg your pardon," He bowed, "We Guado is keen to the scent of the Farplane." I laughed to myself as Tidus sniffed my fa- er Auron. Auron shoved Tidus out the door and stomped off outside and we followed.

* * *

"Yuna, the high summoner's daughter. Seymour, the leader of the Guado. Married in the name of Yevon, overcoming the barriers of race. It would give Spira something cheery to talk about, for a change." I was the only one who didn't speak the whole time we were walking to this Farplane thing. Lulu noticed after she spoke and seemed like she wanted to ask me what was wrong, but she didn't. I could tell that she didn't want to embarrass me in front of the others. I smiled at her meekly thanking her and then going back into my mind. I listened to the conversation.

"Sounds just like a passin' daydream, like Auron says." Wakka stated, sounding like he was so great sharing the wisdom from Auron.

"Come on, let's just get on with the pilgrimage! I mean, marriage?" My head snapped up when he said this. He sounded, sounded- Rikku took the words right out of my mouth.

"Hmmm. Jealous?" Tidus got defensive.

"What? No way! We gotta defeat Sin. Romance can wait!" Rikku scratched her head and dismissed his comment. I began to get nervous. Maybe he really was falling in love Yuna; maybe I waited too long to follow her as a guardian.

"He sure picked a fine time to lay this one on us." Wakka crossed his arms. Yuna put some hair behind her ears and spoke softly.

"Maybe it is a fine time."

"You serious?" Tidus replied and Yuna stated her reasoning behind it.

"If my getting married would help Spira...if it would make people happy...If I could do that for people...maybe I should do what I can. I never imagined doing anything like this. But, I won't answer till I know what's right." Tidus put his hands in his pockets, speaking only once more.

"Seriously?" I kept quiet and Rikku voiced her opinion.

"You could always just quit your pilgrimage and get married." That would be one way to keep Yuna from dying, but she'd never go with it. She's too determined to defeat SIN.

"I will...go on. I'm sure that Lord Seymour will understand." To be honest, I respected her decision. It was her voyage, she could make her own choices.

"Umm, I guess so..." Rikku scratched her head. Yuna seemed to perk up a little.

"I am a summoner! I must fight and defeat Sin." she stated confidently. She cared for everyone, even if she didn't know them or even what race they were. The quiet Auron spoke up.

"Like Braska before you." he stated before going quiet again.

"I'm going to the Farplane. I'm going to see my father and think on this." she smiled slightly. Now that I think about it, all I ever see is her smiling. Isn't she ever sad or angry? The calm collected Lulu spoke.

"Go on, we'll be right behind you." Yuna nodded, smiling again. We came to the entrance of this so called 'Farplane' and it seems Tidus and I were thinking the same thing.

"Question! About this Farplane...When somebody dies, a summoner sends them to the Farplane, right? So their souls, or whatever they are, they go to the Farplane, right? But that's the Farplane we're going to, right? And Yuna's old man's there, too? Do dead people live there or something? Hmmm...Ahahaha..." I laughed aloud and Tidus glared at me in a loving way, if there was such a thing. I linked arms with him to say I was sorry.

"You're thinking those funny thoughts again, ya?" Wakka appealed to me somehow, in an older brother sort of way. He had begun to grow on me, but I'm not sure if it was the other way around yet. I spoke finally after my 30 minutes worth of silence before the Farplane.

"I was actually thing the same thing and Eheheh... well..." I saw Lulu sigh and shake her head.

"You two'll see once we get there ya." We began to start up the stairs, but Tidus and I noticed that Auron and Rikku weren't coming.

"Aren't you coming?" Tidus asked curiously.

"I do not belong there." Auron stated not looking Ti in the eye. Tidus continued to pester him.

"Ohohoho! You're scared!"

"You know Ti," I turned to him. "just because they don't want to go, doesn't mean they're afraid." He nudged me in a way telling me he knew that, he just wanted to bother Auron.

"Searching the past to find the future...This is all that is there. I need it not."

"But sometimes someone in the future needs you the most." Both of eyes met each other's. I was slowly coming to terms with it. I needed Auron to be there for me. I wanted him to be the father he never had been. I needed him in my life now and I wanted to make sure he knew that. His now softened eyes turned back to stone.

"You two had better be going." I looked over to Rikku and spoke.

"Rikku what exactly-"

"You're not really going to see the dead, more like your memories of them. People think of their relatives, and the pyreflies react to them. They take on the form of the dead person--an illusion, nothing else." I nodded understanding what she meant. Tidus just grunted in understanding. "Well, have fun!" She waved at us.

"What, you're not going either, Rikku?"

"I keep my memories inside." This struck a chord in my heart. I knew she was hiding something, but everything? That's a lot for one person to hold. I wanted to take her advice and stay out here with her and Auron, but I wanted to know what the Farplane was holding.

"Huh?" Tidus asked with one word.

"Memories are nice, but that's all they are." was her only reply. Tidus grabbed my hand and we headed inside, ready to face our past. Our eyes gazed upon a rocky platform, over a field holding a large array of flowers. I squeezed his hand and he gave me hug saying it was okay. Pyreflies swirled all over the gardens and the platform. Yuna was talking with her parents, Wakka was gazing at a young boy that looked like Tidus only he had Wakka's features as well. I could tell Lulu was looking at this boy from afar. She may have had a thing with this guy and not with Wakka as I had thought from the way these two acted. Tidus seemed like he wanted to check on the others. I understood that and I told him it was okay. He naturally cared for people that's just what he does and that is one of the many reasons why I fell in love with him. We slipped each other a kiss and he went over to Wakka, while I went over and stood next to Lulu. I slowly slid down to the ground and crossed my legs. A small cloud of dust circled my body and disappeared a few moments later. Lulu spoke, startling me.

"We haven't really got to talk to one another have we?" I shook my head. She sat down next to me to be at my level. "We already know each other's names, uh…" for once she was at a loss of words.

"I like the color blue." I smiled and she began to laugh.

"That's one way to get know each other better. I couldn't help but notice, how quiet you were while we were walking." I looked away. "Are you all right?"

"I was just thinking."

"If I am intruding, please tell me. What- er-"

"He's my father." she raised an eyebrow.

"Auron's my father."

"I see. So that's why you were upset earlier. There was something else. You and Tidus are how you say, an item correct?" I nodded.

"I just- Yuna's very pretty and I-I…"

"I understand. You don't want to lose him. Don't worry, Yuna is not that kind of person." she smiled. "Did you want to see anyone while we're here?" Actually…

"Sort of, but I'm not sure how it works." she stood and then helped me off the ground. Lulu turned me around and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Close your eyes and picture who you want to see." Slowly, an image formed in my mind. Two people, a man and a woman. Both blonde hair and green eyes just like mine. "Open." I slowly opened my eyes and saw my parents, rather my adoptive parents. I felt my eyes welling up with tears and my knees began to shake. "Sanako, what's wrong?" she turned me around and saw the tears.

"I-I," I pushed past her and shot out the entrance of the Farplane. I ran as fast as I could, tears running down my tanned skin. I ran and ran, shooting down the stairs. I wasn't paying attention and I bumped into someone, hard. I looked up and saw Auron. Rikku and him were still in the same spot that we had left them. His face grew full of worry. "D-dad, I-"Rikku turned her back to give us privacy. I wrapped my arms around him and just continued to cry.

"Sanako…" he said softly and then he returned the hugging gesture. He just stood there, holding me while I cried. Eventually my tears died down and for once, I was able to smile at Auron and for a brief second I swore I saw him smile right back. I had decided to use Rikku's method and keep some of my memories inside. Mainly the ones that troubled me to the point of no return. A little while later Yuna and the others came back.

* * *

"Thanks for waiting! I'll go give my answer to Maester Seymour."

"No problem." I answered rising off the edge and stretching. We began to hear groaning and gasping behind us. It was the man from the photo. Lord Jyscal was trying to come out of the Farplane.

"He does not belong here." Yuna questioned him, but in short, Auron was correct.

"Why?"

"Yuna, send him."Yet again, she hesitated.

"Yuna." I said firmly

"Lord Jyscal..."

"He is Lord Jyscal no more. Send him now!" Lulu said in an angry, but caring way. Yuna nodded and finally sent Jyscal after Lulu, Auron, and I protested. Auron spoke, but he seemed rather exhausted from some reason, but I dismissed it. Thinking it was only because the Farplane haunted him so.

"Talk later. We leave now." Everyone was quiet until we came to the corridor of the Farplane. Then we examined the possibilities why Lord Jyscal tried to come back.

"Wha...what was that just now? That really Lord Jyscal?" Wakka seemed the most shaken up at the moment. Tidus spouted an idea.

"Wait, I know! He wasn't sent, so he became a fiend, right? A-ha!" I shook my head, smiled, and spoke.

"Just listen."

"I don't understand how a man like Lord Jyscal could die and not be sent." Yuna said scratching the top of her head, and then Lulu came up with an interesting idea. The one most logical for the situation that was present.

"I would think that he was sent once...but he stayed on Spira. Something, a powerful emotion could have bound him to this world. Such things happen."

"That's against the rules, isn't it?" I saw Rikku shudder and she stepped closer to me. Auron presented another idea to go with Lulu's.

"It means he died an unclean death." We arrived at the front of the mansion and came to a halt to listen to Yuna's decision.

"I will go...meet with Maester Seymour." After all that she still wants to meet with him? |Well it's her choice. The only thing the rest of could do was protect her the best we could. Auron seemed a little agitated with her.

"Yuna! Jyscal is the Guado's problem, not yours." Yuna ignored Auron and walked straight into the mansion to speak with Seymour.

* * *

I was sitting down in huff, so far, it had been almost an hour since Yuna went in and I was tired of waiting for her. It seemed as though the others were too. Rikku had fallen asleep, Auron was sitting a corner by himself, Lulu and Wakka were talking, Kimahri was just standing there as quiet as ever, and Tidus had walked over to where I was sitting. I looked up and he held out his hand. I took it and stood up. "What is it?" I said in a whisper.

"It's nothing, I just thought that just us two should go for a small walk. We haven't got any time alone since we met up." I nodded. We began to walk away and Wakka stopped us. I rolled my eyes before turning around.

"Don't go too far ya? Yuna should be out soon."

"Yeah, all right." Tidus said and then waved his hand at his friend. We walked around Guadosalam and then we went up onto a bridge and sat down. * The same bridge in the game if you get to talk to Rikku if you're confused.* Tidus took me in his arms. Then he began to place kisses on my neck. My heart began to race, but I had to ask him.

"Tidus, wait." He took his lips off my neck and gazed at the hurt look on my face. He brushed my bangs out of my face.

"Sanako, what wrong? What is it?"

"I want to know the truth. Do-do you love Yuna?" I saw his gaze soften and he smiled at me. He placed his hands on the sides of my face and placed a deep kiss on my lips.

"I do love her, but as I would a younger sister. I love you more, much more. The kind of love where I would die if you weren't next to me." I was finally at ease. He didn't love her the way I thought and I knew he wouldn't lie to me. Now I placed a kiss on his lips. The kisses came faster and he pulled off my jacket revealing my white tank top and the bra straps underneath. I unclipped his overall straps and he took off his jacket. Tidus was on his hands and knees above me. I turned on my side and stroked his right arm. His lips hovered over my ear and I could feel his breath go down my neck.

"Tidus wait, what if someone sees?" He glanced over then back at me and then placed a kiss on my forehead.

"We're too high up." He smiled mischievously and then placed another kiss on my lips. I grabbed a hold of his neck and we rolled over to where I was on top. I felt his hands touching my back under my shirt. I smiled back at him.

"Good point." He brought one of his hands to my face and stroked my cheek and then we pulled into another kiss. It was deeper than all of the ones before. He held me even tighter. We kicked off our shoes. Tidus rolled to where I was on bottom again and he stroked my collarbone and then placed kisses fervently across my chest, his hot breath making Goosebumps form on my legs and arms. Out of nowhere, we heard a gasp. Tidus looked behind us, I tried to look, but I couldn't get a good view from where I was. Tidus got up and started dressing. I sat up and saw Rikku standing a few inches away. Her eyes were wide, she was turning a deep crimson, and I knew that I was too. I watched her go over to the edge and begin to shout to Lulu and the others. I got up and jolted over to her as fast as I could.

"Hey guys! You should see what Sanako and Tidus are-"I placed my hand over her mouth and brought her down to the ground. I could tell I scared her because the color had drained from her face and she was no longer an embarrassed red, but a ghostly white. I whispered in her ear.

"Don't you dare tell a soul or I'll tell everyone you still suck your thumb." I threatened playfully. She nodded her head as fast as she could. She began to speak in a muffled voice.

"Bi neeb hair!" (I need air!)

"Oh! Sorry!" I took my hand off her mouth and she took in a deep breath, thankful that oxygen existed. She stayed sitting on the ground. I pulled on my shoes and jacket, then fixed my hair. Rikku stood up and brushed herself off. Tidus headed back down to the others first so they wouldn't get suspicious and then Rikku and I headed back down together. She nudged me with her elbow.

"I see that you two were trying to seal the deal huh?" I put my hands over my mouth and began to turn purple. Rikku was laughing her head off and I shoved her.

"Don't say stuff like that!" she linked arms with me and we continued to walk on and finally arrived back at the mansion.

* * *

By the time Yuna had come back out, Tidus had found out that Seymour had already left to go to some place called Macalania. We all figured that he hadn't expected her answer so soon and that's why he left. We decided to move on to our next destination. A place where storms never sleep. Thunder Plains. Rikku didn't seem so pleased with this idea.

* * *

Whew! i think that this is one of my longer chapters. i hope you liked it! please review send comments and etc and tell me what you thought! oh! i just want

to apologize one more time for not updating as soon as i said i would.

zutarafn1 ^_~


	9. Thunder Plains

Here it is! Chapter 9! I'm just moving right along huh? If this one ends up being short, I'm sorry, but I tried to stretch it out the best I could. Hmmm…what else to say? Oh yeah, *final fantasy victory fanfare*

* * *

Thunder Plains

I was never afraid of thunderstorms myself, I actually liked them. I liked the way lightning lit up the sky and the feel of the rain on my skin, but apparently my 15 year old friend thought otherwise of these BOOMS! and CRASHES! I watched her walk huddled over.

"Oh, no...We're here." Lightning flashed and she cowered and whimpered a little.

"How are we supposed to cross that?" Tidus asked. We knew so little about Spira. I was beginning to feel like Tidus and I asked about 100 questions every minute. Lulu explained, but her last word didn't comfort me that much. That last word, hopefully, didn't show much confidence.

"See the lightning rod towers? The lightning is drawn to them...hopefully."

"You don't sound so confident you know?" I pointed out to her and then I shuddered a little from the cool rain air.

"We head north, not too near and not too far from the towers, ya?" I nodded finally understanding. Lulu spoke again backing up Wakka's information.

"Meaning we should avoid wide, open areas." I stretched and looked up into the sky, letting a few raindrops fall into my eyes. I looked back at Rikku. Wait where'd she- I looked behind me to find her cowering behind me. Another crack of lightning came and she cowered into my back further almost knocking me over.

"Ku…" I pulled her out of my butt so to speak and made her come out from behind me.

"I think I forgot something in Guadosalam."I giggled to myself. I knew she wanted to go back, but we had to move forward. The sooner we did, the sooner she could stop thinking about the storms. Apparently, my father thought so too.

"Nice knowing you." He could be a little harsh with his bouts of sarcasm, but he got straight to the point, even when he was being sarcastic. Rikku waved her hands and then continued to walk in a huddled state.

"Okay, okay! I'll go!" and after she said this she walked close to my side as if she had glued herself to my hip. I rubbed her back and told her everything would be all right.

* * *

It felt like we had been walking for aimlessly for hours across the plains. For a while, I had to carry Rikku on my back because she would sit down in front of the towers and not want to move. Then she would claim that she was okay to walk again. We came to one of the towers just as a huge bolt of lightning was attracted to the pole. I didn't mean to, but I screamed and bumped in to Tidus at the same time.

"AAAAHHHH‼!" I hit him hard and I almost fell, but he caught me.

"Whoa!" he helped me back up. "Are you okay?" I nodded and thanked him for catching me. The rain started to come down a little heavier. I wrung out my jacket, getting rid of the excess water.

"Oh!" Yuna said, and then shook out her hair a little. Wakka decided it was an appropriate time to joke, but Lulu quickly put him in his place shortly after.

"Whoa-ho-ho! That was a close one!" he began to laugh loudly and Lulu shot him a small glare.

"Stop kidding around."

"Yes ma'am..." I laughed aloud and pointed at him and he glared over at me.

"Hahahaha! She sure put you in your place!" Then it was my turn to be reprimanded by Lulu.

"Sanako, stop that. That's very rude, especially to those older than you." My head hung low, I twiddled my thumbs, and I apologized.

"Sorry Lulu, Sorry Wakka." He grabbed me around the neck and gave me a noogie; reminding me how hard it was raining, how wet we were all becoming. I pushed on his arms to try to get loose. "Uh! Wa-wakka!"

"No problem ya? We have to lighten the mood somehow, even if we have ta poke fun at each other." Auron, and the others were far ahead by now and Wakka let go and trotted to catch up to them. We stopped because we heard something weird from behind us.

"Heh heh heh heh heh heh heh..." turns out it was Rikku laughing, quite creepily if I might add. Wakka spoke.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" she laughed again in that creepy way. I wished we could get out of here sooner so she could be that bubbly friend that I love again.

"Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh..." Tidus poked a little fun at her before I could. Honestly, it was kind of the perfect imitation of her laugh. I giggled as he spoke.

"Heh heh heh..." You're givin' me the creeps!" A few more flashes of lightning and booms of thunder sent her cowering onto the ground. We all gasped with worry that she had just collapsed, but she hadn't and crawled as fast as she could and attached herself to my leg, shaking with fear.

"Rikku! He-hey, whoa!" I found that I couldn't shake her loose because of how tight her grip was on my leg. I was so sure that I had a new tattoo courtesy of Rikku, in the shape of two arms. She spoke and I saw the tears forming in her eyes. I heard the fear in her voice.

"I wanna go home! I hate lightning! I hate thunder! Let's go rest over there! Please?" I looked over my shoulder and saw what seemed to be an inn. I was all for staying for the night. Anything to help her calm down a little, but Auron seemed the opposite. He didn't seem to care. He had a lot to learn still about being a parent I guess.

"This storm never stops. Better to cross quickly." I shot him a look asking to just give in, but he shot me one saying: "No, if we don't go now, she'll never want to go." I just rolled my eyes and gazed back at Rikku.

"Come on Ku, it's just a little further." I patted the top of her head.

"I know, but...Just for a little while?" she replied, no one but me could see the tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. They were too far away and the rain was falling too hard.

"Heh, well? What now?" I heard the compassion in Tidus' voice. I could tell that he would back me and Rikku up. Auron sighed. Then him and the others, except me, Tidus and Rikku stayed in front of the inn. Rikku was still attached to my leg. Thunder boomed and she latched on tighter.

"Ow! Easy! I'm still rather attached to my limbs thank you!" Rikku began to whine and that eventually convinced the others to just stay at the inn for the night.

"Pretty please? Just for a few minutes? I'm scared of lightning! Let's rest, please? Pretty please? I'm too young to die! You're mean...cruel! Your moms would be ashamed of you! Are you having fun doing this to me?" I stifled a laugh. She just seemed so cute when she acted as if she was three. Auron turned around, gave a frustrated sigh, and gave into her demands.

"Fine, we rest. She's worse than the storm." I finally got Rikku off my leg and ushered her inside.

* * *

Yuna and I approached the desk to speak with the travel agent. Yuna spoke first.

"We were wondering if you had any rooms available?"

"Maybe a couple of doubles. It would only be for a night." I added. The woman spoke softly.

"Let me check." She looked at the small monitor and typed for about a minute on the keyboard. "I have only one double and six singles."

"Hold on just one moment." Yuna said softly and we conversed with each other and decided that Tidus and I would get the double and the rest would get the singles. I asked how she knew about Tidus and me. She stated that she saw a connection between us two when she saw us together. I became fonder of her. She didn't frown upon our relationship, she supported us and I knew that I could go to her for anything. We walked back up to the desk and got the rooms. Since we were only staying the night, it didn't cost that much and the travel agent threw in the hot springs that were located in the east wing of the inn at no extra charge. We went to the rooms we were assigned and got situated.

* * *

I decided that I would sneak off to the hot springs. I wrapped myself in one of the provided towels in the bathroom connected to Tidus and I's room. I pulled my hair back into a messy bun. I peeked out the bathroom door and saw Tidus was taking a little power nap. I stepped out and then peeked out of the room door, making sure, no one was in the hallway and then I headed towards the springs.

"Aaahhhh…" I slipped into the spring and the hot water began to relax my muscles. There had been a sign posted at the door. I was a little skeptical about the no towel rule. What if someone else came in? Or worse, what if my father came in!? Then again, he didn't seem like the type to visit a hot spring. I just had to remember to breathe and not think of the worse. The water was giving off enough steam anyway to keep said "things" hidden. I waded deeper into the hot spring and closed my eyes. I briefly went under wetting my hair down. I felt someone place their hands on my eyes.

"Guess who?" I smiled.

"Blitz-Claus." His laugh sounded so melodious and I could hear him smiling.

"No, Tidus." He removed his hands off my eyes. He turned me around and began to place a warm kisses on my neck. I sighed with pleasure, but then I became uncomfortable because of…well…never mind.

"I'm sorry, but I can't-I…" I didn't finish my sentence and waded over to the edge, making sure not to stand up all the way. "I'm sorry, I'm- it- uncomfortable- uh…"

"Don't worry I won't look. Besides, I have my towel on. Forget that rule." My face turned even redder without the steams help.

"Why didn't you tell me!?" I heard him snort, but stifle his laughter quickly. "I-I don't- you-"he turned around. "Uggghhh!" I stepped out and picked up my towel. As I was fixing my towel, I found that someone with red hair entered the room at the wrong moment and he didn't advert his eyes as fast as he should have.

* * *

"Aaaaah!!!!!" I hastily wrapped my towel around my body. My face got even redder and Wakka's was just as red. I felt like I could hardly breathe.

"Sorry! I didn't know- I- swear it- I'm sorry!" he left just as quickly as he had entered. I stood there, my feet cramping up on the cold tile floor. I heard Tidus step out of the water and I hear the excess water dripping off his towel. He stepped in front of me and I turned my head to the side. Apparently, he didn't hear the scuffle because he had gone under water. My face stayed red.

"What happened are you all right?" he moved my wet hair off my cheeks and behind my ears. I lied.

"I'm fine. I-I just thought you saw- th-that's why I'm all red." He picked me up quickly and carried me into the spring. "Aaaahhh! Tidus what're you-"he went to the middle of the spring. He placed another kiss on my neck and then spoke.

"You can't kill me out here when I say this," He placed a kiss on my shoulder and then continued. "I did peek when I first got in." my jaw dropped.

"Tidus!"I began blush furiously again. "Something's you should keep to yourself you know! That's an unfair advantage if you have something to make me blush!"He chuckled a little and then put his forehead against mine. We just waded in the water for what seemed like hours, just enjoying the time we spent together, not knowing that later on in the pilgrimage, there would be no more times like this.

* * *

We headed back to room about 9:30 and took turns showering up and washing off the salty spring water off in a cool shower. I walked out in a pair of pajamas provided by the inn, brushing my hair out. Tidus was already in the bed under the covers, but he was sitting up reading a book. He looked over the rims of his reading glasses and saw that I come out. He took off his glasses and set his book down. I sat down in front of the mirror and pulled my hair back. Tidus came behind me and began massaging my shoulders. I closed my eyes and relaxed. After 10 minutes he spoke, interrupting the sleepy trance I had entered.

"Feels good I take it?" I nodded. I reached up and touched his hands. Our fingers intertwined. He began to places kisses on my neck. Then he switched and placed one on my cheek. He moved my tank top and bra strap to the side of my shoulder and made a trail of soft quick kisses to my neck.

"Hey Ti," He stopped. I stood up and faced him.

"Yeah?" he pulled me closed into a tight hug. I took in his aroma of rose soap and cologne. I let out a small moan after taking a deep breath of his scent.

"I'm gonna walk around for a bit okay?" he nodded and then kissed me on the top of the head. I fixed my straps to where they sat back on my shoulder. He let go and I slipped on my blue jacket.

"Don't stay out too long. I'll miss you too much." I smiled and pecked him quickly on the cheek, slipped on my shoes, and went to speak with a certain someone whether he was awake or not.

* * *

My hand hovered over the mahogany door, but I had to get this off my chest and I brought my hand down on the wood until someone opened the door. "Must be a deep sleeper." I turned to leave, but I heard the door open.

"Any specific reason why you woke me at 10:30 at night?" His voice sounded as gruff as ever. Maybe because he didn't want to be here or because…well… I did just wake him up might be the reason. I turned back around and had to keep myself from laughing. Auron's hair was sticking way up on one side and the hotel had provided him with…with chocobo's and cactuar pajamas! I spoke, still having trouble stifling my giggles.

"I want- wanted to-"I snorted and Auron crossed his arms and glared at me with his good eye. "I'm sorry." I said with a smile. "I wanted to talk. It's later like you said in the mansion." I saw him go into his thoughts and then he turned around and walked back into his room.

"Come in."I was hesitant because I didn't think he would actually let me in, but I went in and closed the door behind me. I saw him take out a lighter and cigarette. I guess he caught me looking at him. "Oh, sorry-uh-I-"it was the first time I had ever heard the man stutter in my life.

"It's all right. I don't mind. All though it's not very good for you." He hesitated, but lit it anyway. He sat down in a chair next to the bed. I didn't move and stayed by the door. He took his sunglasses off the end table and put them on. He inhaled some of his cigarette and breathed out the smoke. He looked over at me. My feet began to cramp up on the cold floor.

"You can sit on the bed you know. I don't bite." I headed over to the bed and he did something else that surprised me. "Usually." He made a joke. He chuckled and I laughed a little with him. I leaned against the headboard of the bed and pulled the covers over my legs. He inhaled the last of his cigarette, released the last bit of smoke, and put out the butt of the cigarette in the ashtray on nightstand. He scratched his scruffy beard. "So what exactly did you want to talk about?" he paused and remembered. "Oh right."

"Why didn't you say anything back home? I just wanna know. I always felt like something was missing, but I didn't think it was…" I paused. "Just so you know, I'm not leaving until I get some answers." He pinched the bridge of his nose and then spoke. He voice sounded softer and compassionate than when I had first woke him up.

"You don't know Sana, how many times I tried." He stood up and walked over the window overlooked the plains. "I tried several times, but… You were so happy…and it was just…I wanted you to be happy. Therefore, I didn't say anything, but I was able to watch over you and Tidus. I figured that if I had told you…" I got up and stood behind him. Tears forming in my eyes.

"That I wouldn't be happy!?" he turned around and saw the tears. His gaze softened to that fatherly glow he had for brief seconds in Guadosalam. They began to run down my cheeks.

"Sanako." He wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "Don't cry. I hate to see my little girl cry." What he said made it worse, the tears fell more furiously, and I began sobbing. He picked me up, sat down in the chair beside the bed, and held me in his lap. I wiped my eyes trying to get the tears to stop, but they just kept coming.

"I'm sorry- I can't- they won't stop." he hugged me tightly, when he did so the tears slowly and finally came to a halt.

"It's all right." I took in a deep breath. "You know, I did take care of myself for a while." I looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He set me down on the edge of the bed, sat back down in the chair, and continued. "It was many, many years ago. Let's see… I think I was 20 and you were about 7 years old." I wrapped the blankets around myself and listened intently. "Hmmm… my memory's not what it used to be. Hold on a second." He got up, walked over to his red coat, reached into one of his pockets, and pulled something shaped like a sphere and it was sea blue. Auron sat down next to me. "I keep this with me wherever I go. It really helped when I was with Braska and Jetch on Braska's pilgrimage."

"What is it?"

"It's a memory sphere. You record something that is most precious to you and you are able to replay that moment with in the sphere." He pushed a small button and the sphere started to play.

_

* * *

__Memory:_

_"Sanako!" a man in his twenties raced over to his daughter. She had been pulling on the tablecloth and a glass vase full of flowers was about fall on her. He scooped her away from the table just before the glass vase fell. It cracked on the floor. Water and flowers went everywhere. Auron looked at his daughter and she was clapping her hands and laughing. He looked at her sternly, but her cuteness factor won. He tossed her in the air and caught her. "What am I going to do with you silly girl?" he hugs her and they touch foreheads._

_It fades and goes to another memory._

_The girl is pulling her father slightly and they're walking down the streets in the Zanarkand petting zoo. The blonde girl in pigtails is sporting her favorite cactuar shirt and is overly excited and can't help but stop and pet all of the animals she sees. They finally come to the last pen and there is not an animal to be found. The girl becomes disappointed and begins to cry. Auron crouches down. She's rubbing her left eye and points to the pen._

_"What's wrong Sana?" She's rubbing her left eye and points to the pen, still crying._

_"Id's nod dere daddy. My favbite aminal id nod dere."(It's not there daddy. My favorite animal is not there.)She continued to cry and Auron picks Sanako up and cradles her gently._

_"It's probably in its home over there." He pointed to the coop inside the pen, but the girl didn't understand. She continued to cry. Auron noticed that the chocobo had come out of the coop. He put her down on the ground and told her to look. Her crying stopped and she began to smile again. She began to get excited._

_"Daddy! Daddy! Wook! Id's a chodcadbo!"(Daddy! Daddy! Look! It's a chocobo.)She pointed. Auron laughed at his daughter's reaction. The chocobo got to the edge of the pen and Sanako pet it gently, but then it honked, scaring the 7 year old. She ran behind her father's leg._

_"Sanako, look." The older chocobo had called out a baby chocobo. The baby chocobo ran behind its parent's legs just as Sanako had done. "It's acting just like you!" she stepped out from behind his legs cautiously and she walked up to the pen. So did the baby bird. They both stared at each other and then the baby warmed up to Sanko and encouraged her to pet him. She did and became happy again. Auron picked her up and they began the walk home._

_"Id wad a badby daddy." (It was a baby daddy.) She rested her head on his shoulder and drifted off to sleep. The memory sphere shut off._

* * *

Auron looked at his daughter and she had dosed off and was leaning on his shoulder as she had done in the final memory on the sphere. He smiled and then shook her gently. "Sanako. Wake up." he glanced at the clock. 11:15. She sat up with a jolt and rubbed her eyes.

"Sorry. I guess I should get to bed huh?" I got up and stretched my limbs. I watched my father put the sphere back in his coat and pull out another one, but this one was smaller and almost see through. He came over and handed me the sphere.

"Be sure to watch that one with Tidus when you get the chance. You two should find it interesting."

"I will." I gave him a quick hug and turned to leave, but stopped. I forgot to ask about mom. "Hey dad?" he had sat down on his bed, but looked up. He had taken off his glasses.

"Yeah?" I shook my head. I had decided that it would be best to ask about that some other time.

"Never mind." I smiled at him, said good night, and went off to bed.

* * *

"Uggghhh…Tidus. There's a knock at the door." I rolled over on my side to try to ignore the opened his eyes and took a quick glance at the clock. It was 3:30 in the morning.

"Would you get it? I would have to climb over you to get it and one thing would lead to another..." He smiled, as I turned purple. I punched him playfully.

"Fryd yna oui cyoehk!?"(What are you saying!?) "Fine I'll get it, but you owe me. Don't you dare fall asleep until I get back in the bed." The knocking on the door continued.

"I won't. I promise." I got out of the covers and made my way to the door, but tripped over my shoes. I eventually made it through the dark room half-asleep. I opened the door and saw that there was no one there. I felt someone wrap his or her arms around me tightly out of nowhere. "AAAHHH!!!" I looked down to see Rikku. She was shaking more than she had yesterday. "Rikku…what're you doing?" she looked up at me.

"I was wondering- if I–I, could I stay with you guys?"

"Are you that scared?" she nodded and told me her story. I noticed she had stopped shaking.

"Mm-hm. When I was little, a fiend attacked me while I was swimming at the beach. My brother tried to beat it back with a spell." She squealed at another clap of thunder and flash of lightning. "But he missed and hit me instead! It was a Thunder spell." She made the noise. "Bzzzzzzt!" I closed one eye and scrunched up my nose.

"Ouch! That must've hurt." Several flashes came in a row, making her shake and tremble for the first time in 10 minutes.

"I've been scared of lightning ever since."

"But...it can be effective you know depending on what spells you use. Magic is effective against marine fiends." I said trying to calm her a little.

"Brother said that, too." She looked up at me.

"You should learn some spells, too. I could teach you if you'd like or you could ask Lulu. I'm sure she'd be happy to do it as well." The thunder boomed and the lightning flashed again.

"Aaaaah!" I sighed.

"Hmm... Maybe later."

"So can I?" I nodded. I flicked on the light, wrapped an arm around her, and led her inside. I called from the doorway.

"Tidus? You still awake?"

"Yeah. What is it?" I rounded the corner. Rikku had mysteriously found a way to cling back onto me.

"We have a guest." I saw him smile sympathetically. Before I could get in the bed first, Rikku seemed to fly into the bed. Great. So much for not snuggling with Tidus tonight. I heard him chuckle. I wedged myself into the bed. Tidus hit the button on the wall and turned the lights off. "Rikku? Are you-"I looked and saw she had fallen fast asleep already. I sighed.

"What's wrong?" he brought his arm straight out and above Rikku's head. I did the same and we intertwined our fingers.

"It's just I was enjoying snuggling with you and then she-"

"Don't worry. I'll make sure we get some time tomorrow." I saw an outline of his smile in the dark. He carefully brought my hand to his lips, placed a kiss on the back of my hand, and then put our hands back above Rikku's head.

"All right." There were a few moments of silence.

"You know Sana," I had to force myself to stay awake.

"Hmmm…"

"It's like we're mom and dad and the daughter got scared and came to us." I laughed. He began rubbing my thumb and I began to drift off to sleep.

"Before I go off to dream land, if you're trying to make me forget that you owe me, I won't." he laughed.

"I know. You were never one to forget anything were you?"

"Nope. Night Ti."

"Night Sanako."

* * *

"Hmmm…Tidus." I smiled to myself. I wrapped my arms tighter around what I thought was Tidus. I went to kiss him, but I hesitated. Wait a second; Tidus doesn't have…My eyes snapped open and gazed upon a very scared Rikku, not from the still ongoing thunder and lightning, but from what almost happened. We were both blushing hard. I released my grip and fell onto the bedroom floor. "Owww…" I stood up rubbing my hindquarters. My blush faded as I focused on the pain, but Rikku's stayed visible. "Sorry about that- I forgot that you came in last night." She shook her head and said it was no problem. I noticed that Tidus had already gotten dressed and probably went to the lobby. It was around 8:00 in the morning, but since we were in the Thunder Plains, it felt like night all the time. We both took turns getting a shower and getting dressed and then we headed out to the lobby where the rest of the group was.

By the time we got out to the lobby, everyone else had finished their conversations and saw that we had come out. I noticed that the thunder and lightning seemed louder out the lobby. The rooms must be more sound proof than I had thought. Rikku spoke. "It's not stopping, is it?"

"Don't tell me you were hoping it would." Auron really needed to learn to be kinder to teenage girls. She cowered at another thunderclap. "Fine. Stay here." Auron walked out the door, leaving the rest of standing here. For once, Rikku stood up straight and seemed to get a burst of confidence.

"All right, already. But! You didn't have to say it like that, you know! You could be more comforting or something! You know, try to cheer me up? You just don't get me at all, do you? Hey! Are you listening?" she cringed a little at the thunder, lightning, and shouted again. _"_I'm not scared! I'm not scared, you hear?" she ran outside and the rest of us followed.

* * *

After a about an hour of walking, Tidus saw that I was getting tired. I wasn't paying attention and he hoisted me onto his back. "What- Tidus!"

"Just consider that we're equal now. Besides, you look really exhausted." I heard the worry and compassion in his voice. If I refused, he would keep asking.

"Fine." I said softly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. I began to drift into a light sleep.

* * *

"Everyone…Wait." Yuna said aloud, only I barely heard her speak.

"Hey." I stirred a little. "Wake up." I raised my head and yawned.

"Wha-t is it?" he put me down gently on the ground and I stretched a little. I yawned once more. He whispered to me.

"Yuna has something to say." I woke myself up and became alert. She seemed as though she was hiding something. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

"What's up?" Wakka asked curiously. Tidus and I walked forward and I ended up standing next to Wakka. We both caught each other's gaze and began to blush furiously. I walked over to the other side of Tidus, ending up between him and Rikku. Everyone noticed how odd we had been acting around each other. Rikku was the only one who asked about it now. She looked at me quizzically. She whispered.

"What's up with you two?" I whispered back and shook my head.

"I'll tell you later." Yuna continued.

"I have something to tell you."

"Here?" Lulu asked. It seemed like she wanted to get out of this dreary place as much as I did.

"We're almost out of here! Let's go!" Rikku expressed, still cowering at the thunderclaps and lightning. For once Yuna used a firm tone. She didn't really seem the type to do that often.

"I have to say it now!" I saw Auron gaze at the little shelter a couple feet away and then speak.

"Over there." You know that feeling that comes when you know something's gonna happen, and you somehow knew about it? Then what you thought comes true within the next few moments, well let's just say that happens to me a lot.

"I've decided to marry." I saw Lulu shake her head and mutter under her breath.

"I thought so." Rikku cowered at another bolt and scooted a little closer to me.

"B-But why? Why'd you change your mind ya?" Wakka said worriedly, coming forward, bumping into me, which made us start blushing again like mad, and this time he was the one to move away.

"For Spira's future...and Yevon's unity. I thought it would be the best thing to do."

"That's not good enough." Auron stated in that concerned tone. It seemed he cared for her just the same as everyone else. I saw the gears turning in Lulu's head.

"Wait, is it... Is it because of Lord Jyscal?" Wait a second, I saw her pick something up after Jyscal appeared. I think it might have been a sphere.

"Was this about that sphere thing that dropped after Jyscal disappeared Yuna?" I saw her flinch. I stepped towards her a couple of inches.

"Show me." Auron said in a concerned tone as if that sphere gave the key to some details we may have missed about Seymour and Jyscal.

"I can't. I must speak to Maester Seymour first. I truly am sorry, but this is... It is a personal matter."

"You're kidding, ya?" was Wakka could state on the matter. Auron decided to respect her choice.

"As you wish." He turned his back.

"Yuna please, let us help." I was concerned. Even though I hadn't talked to her much, I felt more inclined as a guardian to figure out what wrong.

"I'm sorry." Auron turned back around.

"Just one thing," she stopped him in mid sentence.

"I won't quit my pilgrimage."

"Then it is...fine." W-wait that's not-

"Hold on a second." I raised my hands. "You're not gonna stop her? Maester or not I have a bad feeling about this guy." I heard the others gasp.

"No, I'm not. As long as she is willing to face Sin...all else is her concern. That is a summoner's privilege. As long as she journeys." I looked at everyone else and they nodded in agreement with my father.

"But…" I just let my sentence drop, but Wakka finished my thought aloud in a complete sentence.

"Yuna, just one question. Can't you just talk to Maester Seymour? You've got to marry him?"

"I don't know. But I think it is the right thing to do." I don't want her to get married for the sake of Spira; I want her to get married for love. I didn't know how to put in words.

"Okay, I guess." I spoke up again.

"No. It's not okay Wakka! Yu-"

"Sanako, hold your tongue." I glared at my father. Tidus came over and hugged me from behind. I muttered curse words under my breath.

"Yunie..." Rikku placed her hands on Yuna shoulders. The lightning flashed and the thunder boomed. Rikku glared at the sky and yelled."Quiet!"She spoke to Yuna. "I wish we could help somehow, some way! " Yuna place a hand on Rikku's and replied.

"It's okay... I'll be fine." She smiled and we began to walk the rest of the way. I began to mutter aloud as we were walking.

"She says, "I'm sorry." He says, "It's fine." She's "willing" to face Sin. She's "privileged." I stopped and screamed aloud. "Uggghhh!!! I just don't understand!" Tidus took my hand and slipped a kiss onto my cheek.

"It'll be all right. You'll see." I took a long sigh.

"I sure hope you're right." We came to the exit of Thunder Plains and Auron spoke.

"Next, we're going to Macalania Temple. Yuna can talk with Seymour there. We guardians will wait until they're done, and plan our next move. Understood?" Now we just had wait and see what was to become of our group in Macalania.

* * *

since i didn't say much at the begining i'll say something here...but what to say...okay...this is harder than i thought...nevermind... one little factoid though, i'm almost to the half way point in the story! *sob* that means before you know the story will end, but i'll tell you one little thing, next i'll be going through final fantasy x-2 with Sanako! if you are asking why, because i can, that's why! Bwaaahahahahahahaha!!!! I'm so evil! not really. i couldn't pull it off at all.

please review! only you can help me with the ideas or situations you want to see. if you have any suggestions of what you'd like in upcoming chapters for this story, send'm to me and i'll fit it in. or send me comments, reviews, etc. about what liked or didn't like. i guess that's about it. onward to typing the next chapter! ^-^

P.S. for those who don't get the hot springs/ towel thing with Wakka, it's a nude spring get it? i told my sister about it and she didn't get it, until i told her that that is what it was. *sighs* she be so clueless sometimes, but i love her just the way she is. you can't help but love your family and all its little quirks. ;)


	10. Macalania

Okay, it's been a while since I have updated. This chapter took forever to type! This is the longest one yet! Over 9,000 words to be precise! I won't prattle on. Get started on reading, it may take a while. ^-^; Sorry about that. Heeheehee…*final fantasy victory fanfare*

* * *

Macalania

As soon as we were out of Thunder Plains, Rikku bounced around and was back to the way she was before. "It just feels so good to be out of that place!" she jumped off the ground and threw her hands in the air. I lagged behind everyone. I wasn't thinking about Yuna's upcoming marriage, but thinking about mom. Auron noticed that I was behind and slowed down to walk with me. After a few moments he spoke.

"You're worried about Yuna."

"Yeah I'm worried about her, but she's a big girl. She can take care of herself." I sighed. "But I wanna know, what's she thinking."

"The simplest answer would be...in exchange for agreeing to marry him...she hopes to negotiate with Seymour, but that's not what's really on your mind is it?" I shook my head. "You want to know about 'her' don't you? You want to know about your mother." He looked forward and then pushed his sunglasses back. I wondered how he could read my thoughts so easily.

"Yeah I do." I heard him sigh. "What is it? Is it that hard to talk about her?" he looked at me.

"No, not really." I knew he was lying. He became silent for a few moments. He stopped and I did as well. He stared me up and down. Then he patted the top of my head. "You take after her. Her looks too. You just remind me so much of her-" I swore that I saw him tearing up. He looked away quickly and cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault." We began walking again, now only a few inches away from the group. My head hung low. "I'm sorry that I'm a constant reminder." Now it was my turn for my eyes to water.

"No, it's as if a part of her is still living. Living through you." I looked over at him and he smiled. It was somewhat nice. He never smiled and I was getting a glimpse of the side no one ever saw. Then I realized some of the meaning behind what he just said. My mother wasn't alive like I thought; she was dead just like so many people on the Farplane. "Sanako?" my head snapped in his direction.

"Huh? Sorry, I was just…thinking." He tried to cheer me up.

"You know, you haven't actually live in Zanarkand your whole life?" my eyes widened. He chuckled at my shock. "Let me see…You, your mom, and I actually lived on Besaid until you were about 5. Then one day we went sailing and the three of us were transported by SIN, ending up in Zanarkand. It seems so long ago. That was back when the Al Bhed weren't criticized and they were first coming about."

"Whoa…I would've never…" my sentence trailed off. So I really was one of the first Al Bhed to appear.

"You might remember a few things if you go there. Promise me that you'll visit Besaid." Wait a second, why didn't he say the both of us? He was hiding something. I smiled at him.

"Dad, why don't we both go?"I saw him flinch. "Sorry, do want me to call you Auron?" he shook his head.

"No, it's not that…never mind."

"Slowpokes!" Rikku called. I shouted back.

"Just for that…" I ran as fast as I could and pushed off her shoulders like I had done to Wakka in Luca and front flipped several feet in front of the group. "Ha! Who's the slowpoke now!?" Rikku ran and jumped on my back. Everyone was laughing, but Auron. I couldn't help but notice that he was being quieter than usual.

* * *

We ended up running into another summoner's guardian, but there was no summoner. His name was Barthello and his summoners name was Dona. Apparently, they had been separated on the way here. We cleared up the situation and Auron gave Barthello some advice. Then we continued on our way. I ended up bumping into Wakka from walking too fast. We both began to blush. I had finally had enough, we needed to clear the air whether he wanted to or not.

"So…uh…" I couldn't get the sentence out, I was nervous.

"Eh…ya…umm…" his ears were turning fire gem red.

"We can't keep avoiding each other." I rubbed my neck, and I'm sure that I was still a bright magenta. "We gotta t-talk about…uh…it you know." He nodded his head in agreement avoiding my gaze. We brought our voices down to a whisper since we were in between everyone else. "You wanna go first or shall I?" Wakka decided to go first.

"Well, I walked in…uh…saw…"

"I…screamed…"his blush had faded.

"I left…immediately… I should add…"

"But…you didn't look away as fast as you should have…"I saw him go back to being that deep crimson and I felt my cheeks get hotter as well.

"Ya… although… you weren't…that bad…uh…l-looking…" I gasped loudly and everyone turned his or her heads in our direction, making us both turn a deep purple. "I uh was just telling her a ghost story ya?" I nodded in agreement and everyone went back to his or her own business. I pushed him and stuck my hands on my cheeks.

"Don't say things like that!" I said in quiet whisper. He laughed aloud and I began to laugh as well. "It's actually pretty funny when you think about it." We continued to laugh for a few more minutes.

"So are we cool ya?" I nodded my head.

"We're cool." He put arm around me, giving me a quick hug. I punched him playfully and then we were able to face each other as if nothing had ever happened.

* * *

After a few hours of walking, we arrived at the Northern part of the Macalania Woods. Auron paused. "Wait. It is here...somewhere."

"What's here?" Tidus asked inquisitively. I got down off his back and stretched.

"Something you should see." Yuna wanted to continue on, everyone else wanted to see what my father was talking about.

"But, Sir Auron..."

"It won't take long." Auron pulled out his sword and hacked through the fallen tree that was in our path. He led us through some rather thick brushes and we ended up at a cool spring, baring several trees within the water.

"This place... It's just water, isn't it?" Tidus didn't seem as interested as before.

"This is what spheres are made of. It absorbs and preserves people's memories." 'So that's why spheres have that glassy look.' Something began to rise from the pool, having an amoeba like appearance.

"What's that?" Wakka asked taking a few steps back.

"Please tell me that's not-"I stated but Auron finished my thought.

"Fiends are also attracted to these places." Auron stated blandly. As if, we didn't know that now. After a while, we figured out that the Spherimorph absorbed spells, it was up to us with swords and spheres to get rid of it. Eventually we defeated it and we found a sphere. We took a breather before we watched it and that's when I noticed a second sphere over towards the right. I made sure no one was watching and I put it in my pocket. I walked back over to the group.

"Whoa, this is old! Don't know if you can play it back." Wakka stated, but Auron seemed sure that it would play.

"Jecht left it here ten years ago." We all gasped._ "_Play it back." Tidus nodded and hit the button. There were several places in the sphere I hadn't seen yet but I watched anyway. It might be a clue as to why Ti hated his dad. I know it wasn't right to prod, but I know so little of his family and him likewise, except for Auron.

* * *

Tidus didn't seem so pleased with the fact Jecht tired to make an effort to tell his son how he felt. I wish he would just open his heart a little. "He sounded almost serious, but it was too late." The rest of us stayed quiet as Auron and Tidus took turns speaking.

"He was serious. Jecht had already accepted his fate."

"His fate?"

"Jecht... He... He was always talking about going home, to Zanarkand. That's why he took all those pictures--to show them to you when he returned. But as he journeyed with us and came to understand Spira, and Braska's resolve... It happened gradually, but Jecht changed. He decided he would join Braska in his fight against Sin."

"So then, he gave up going home?"

"That was his decision." I took my boyfriends hand to calm him a little and that seemed to help him become upbeat again.

"All right! Let's go, guys!" I let go of his hand after slipping him a quick kiss on the lips and went to talk with Rikku. I noticed that Tidus and Auron stayed back for a few moments, but I didn't think anything of it.

* * *

"Finally," Yuna started out, "an inn. We can rest for a bit." Everyone, including myself, thought that this was a good idea. For one we could get out of the cold air that the frozen lake presented and for two, everyone was just tired. Everyone was intent on talking to one another, but I sat in a corner and pulled out that memory sphere, I hit the button, but it didn't play. Hmmm…looks like something's loose. I pulled a small Al Bhed pocketknife. I didn't notice that Yuna had come over. "What do you have there?" I jumped and she giggled at my reaction. I pointed to the chair right next to mine and she sat down.

"It's just an extra sphere that I found and I'm trying to restore it so it will play." She leaned forward to look and some of her hair fell forward only to be tucked back behind her ear.

"May I see?" I handed her the sphere and she inspected it. "I wonder why it's so dark. I wonder if it's because of the memory inside it." She handed it back and I slid it into my pocket. She rested her chin in her hands.

"What? Is something wrong?" she had been staring at me intensely with her bi colored eyes. She smiled at me.

"I just feel like-like I've met you before. Besides Luca, I mean. Like, I've met you several years ago." I got excited.

"You've felt that too?" she nodded. We were silent for a few moments. "Did you know that…uh…Auron's my father?" I saw her eyes widen in surprise.

"No." We both looked at Auron, he caught our gaze, and we went back to looking at each other and began to giggle for no reason.

"Earlier in the woods, he told me that I didn't always live in Zanarkand, that I lived on Besaid until I was 5." She looked like she was thinking hard.

"Wait…" she sat up. "Now that I think about, I was friends with a girl that had blonde hair and green eyes. She was always around with Sir Auron and a blonde woman." I began to remember a girl that looked just like Yuna that was my best friend. There was no possible way. Was there? I began to sing a tune that the girl and I had come up with. If Yuna finished it, she had to be the same girl.

"To the ends of the earth, I will travel just to find you. To the ends of Spira, you know," sure enough she finished the song.

"It's true. We'll stay friends forever just you and I. Our dreams soar together in the sky." We sang the last verse together. "Don't forget me now my friend here comes the bend in our path. We must go our separate ways, our journeys starting at last." We began laughing and embraced in a tight hug. She spoke and I knew we were both crying.

"I can't believe we didn't remember each other until just now." We sat up wiping our tears. "It's just so good to see you after so many years Yuna."

"I know. You, Sir Auron, and his wife just vanished without a trace that year. I thought I would never see yo-"Auron interrupted.

"That's enough, we must continue on." I spoke and noticed Yuna was a little aggravated at him as well.

"But we just figured out we were friends when lived on Besaid dad. We were just-"

"You two will be able to talk more later. We need to go." We both stood up.

"Fine." I said in a firm tone. Yuna spoke softly.

"I guess you're right. Sorry Sir Auron." I put a hand on her shoulder.

"There's no need to apologize, we did nothing wrong." We stepped out the door leaving my father with that thought. A little past the agency we were met once again by Tromell.

* * *

"Lady Yuna, we've been expecting you. We were surprised you decided to come so soon. Pleasantly surprised, of course. Lord Seymour sends his apologies for having left without notice." He bowed deeply to apologize.

"It's quite all right. I have one question, if I may, sir."All I could was stand and listen. I wanted to say something. This was tearing my heart out. I had just found one of my old friends and now she would have to leave. This was all too much.

"My lady?"

"I want to keep journeying, even if I marry. Do you think that Maester Seymour would let me?"

"But of course, my lady. Lord Seymour wishes nothing else, I'm sure." Yuna turned around to us, smiled, and bowed.

"Goodbye."

"Well... We must follow Guado tradition. I'll have to ask you wait here a little while longer. I'll send someone to escort you." She hung back.

"I..." Auron spoke up.

"We're all with you. Do as you will."

"Thank you." She began to walk away; I ran forward a couple steps and shouted.

"Yuna!"She stopped and turned around. "Remember, to the ends of the earth!"

"To the ends of Spira! I'll never forget!" then she turned to leave again. Suddenly, Tromell and Yuna were surrounded by several snowmobiles.

"Oh cred…" (Oh Shit…) Rikku was thinking the same thing.

"Oh, no!" I ran over to my friend and whispered to her in Al Bhed.

"Fa syo fyhd du bnabyna uincamjac vun frah Wakka vehtc uid, E dhehg uin lujan sekrd pa pmufh ev "Ra'c" fedr dras." (We may want to prepare ourselves for when Wakka finds out, I think our cover might be blown if "He's" with them.) She nodded. Wakka shouted.

"Al Bhed!" we all ran onto the icy lake to protect Yuna and Tromell.

* * *

"Thank you!" Tromell said graciously. He tried to lead Yuna away to safety like we wanted, but she yanked her hand out of his and rushed back, pulling out her staff. I pulled out my daggers and everyone else followed suit. "Lady Yuna!" All of the Al Bhed then scattered and I turned my head and gazed at a snow bank. Sure enough, there was a man with a blond Mohawk and tattoos on his arms. I cursed aloud.

"Stand back." Auron said pulling out his bushido sword.

"Cred." (Shit.) "Rikku." She understood. We knew instantly that Wakka would find out, but as to what would happen after that, we had no control over. We prepared ourselves to face off with our kin. Brother called down from the snow bank.

"Rikku! Sanako! Tuh'd ehdanvana un oui kad drec!(Rikku! Sanako! Don't interfere or you get this!)Then the Negator tank we had worked on back at home, rolled onto the bank. It seemed much bigger from where we were standing. "Ouin bnaleuic sykel yht yauhc yna caymat!"(Your precious magic and aeons are sealed!)

"Oh, no!"

"This is way more than Oh no Rikku!"

"Translation?" Tidus asked confused. my heart began to beat two times as fast as any normal heart should.

"He's gonna use an anti-magic field on us!" Rikku shouted and then it was my turn.

"That means nothing that involves magic or Aeons if you didn't catch that!"

"Kad dras!"(Get them!) After struggling, we found out the secret to the machine, of course Rikku and I knew the weakness, but we couldn't say it straight out, then Wakka wouldn't focus on fighting, he'd focus on arguing. We worked together and tore the restored Negator to bits. 'Man. I worked hard on restoring that too.' Before the other Al Bhed could capture Yuna, we gave Tromell the signal.

"My lady!" He led Yuna away and took her to the temple.

"Rikku! Sanako! E femm damm Vydran!"(Rikku! Sanako! I will tell Father!)

"Fa yna kiynteyhc uv Oihy, oui caa? Oihy ec cyva! Fa femm kiynt ran! Cra ec cyva!" (We are guardians of Yuna, you see? Yuna is safe! We will guard her! She is safe!)Rikku shouted.

"Brother, mecdah du ic! Fa femm ramb ran cdyo cyva!" (Brother listen to us! We will help her stay safe!) I also tried to get it into his thick head.

"Oui tu drec ymuha, so cecdanc!" (You do this alone, my sisters!)

"Uggghhh…what's Cid gonna say?" Rikku shook her head, shrugged her shoulders, and then voiced her thoughts.

"I told him Sanako and I were guardians. Well, guess I had to, really." I whispered in her ear.

"Here it comes." I felt her grab my hand. I felt her shaking like mad. She was afraid of Wakka. "Hey it'll be okay, I promise."

"How come you speak Al Bhed? Why?" Wakka had a puzzled look on his face. Tidus tried to help us bring the news more easily to our friend, but he hadn't much success.

"Uh...well..."

"We uh…we're" I stammered as well. Rikku closed her eyes and said the truth.

"Because we're Al Bhed. And that...was our brother."

"You knew?" the others nodded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We knew you'd be upset." Lulu said looking him in the eye.

"This is great. I can't believe I've been travelling with Al Bhed! Not just one, but two! Two heathens!" I lunged forward and started cursing him out in Al Bhed. Lulu grabbed a hold of me from behind, leaving only three to four inches between me and the Besaidian. I flailed my limbs trying to get free so I could punch him.

"Oui yccruma! Ruf tyna oui cyo dryd du ic! Oui-oui'na vimm uv cred! Oui fana banvaldmo veha dnyjamehk fedr ic pavuna oui ghaf! Oui ghuf fryd, Vilg oui!"(You asshole! How dare you say that to us! You-you're full of shit! You were perfectly fine traveling with us before you knew! You know what, Fuck you!)Rikku's eyes widened and the color drained from her face.

"What did she say?" he stared at me angrily and I glared right back at him.

"Wakka, I don't – th-think you want-"Rikku stammered.

"I want to know! Tell me!" she twiddled her fingers as she spoke.

"She said that you're an asshole and that you're full of shit and how dare you say that to us. That you were perfectly fine when you didn't know we were Al Bhed, so why should it be any different? And the last thing she said was, uh- do I have to say it Sana?" she looked over at me.

"Oac."(yes) I said nodding.

"Fuck you." Wakka's color drained from his face and I smirked at him. Lulu continued to hold me back.

"You two are just-"

"You're wrong! We have nothing against Yevon." Rikku spouted, cutting him off. She and Wakka went into a debating match. I finally calmed down and Lulu let me go, but she wouldn't let me leave her side.

"But you Al Bhed use the forbidden machina! You know what that means? Sin was born because people used machina!" My nose twitched with anger. I just couldn't believe he was dense enough to think that one race of people could bring SIN.

"You got proof? Show me proof!"

"It's in Yevon's teachings!" He crossed his arms as if he knew everything. "Not that you'd know!"

"That's not good enough! Yevon says this, Yevon says that. Can't you think for yourself?"

"Well, then you tell me! Where did Sin come from, huh?"

"I...I don't know!" I hated him for doing this. Rikku and I have nothing to prove to him, why should we anyway, not after what he called us.

"Hmph! You bad-mouth Yevon and that's all you can come up with?" I growled and began to step forward, but Lulu put a hand on my shoulder. I clenched my hands into two fists at my sides.

"But...that doesn't mean you should do whatever they say without thinking! Nothing will ever change that way!"

"Nothing has to change!"

"You want Sin to keep coming back? There might be a way to stop it, you know!"

"Sin will be gone once we atone for our past mistakes!"

"When? How?"

"If we keep faith in Yevon's teachings it will be gone one day!"

"Why do I even bother?"

"Rikku! Sanako!" Auron called from over by the snowmobiles

"Hm?" Rikku asked, our heads turning in his direction.

"Will this move?"

"Yes!"

"Yeah!" We ran over and began fixing the snowmobiles. Auron stood next to me.

"Why did she say 'our brother'?"

"It was before I knew that you were my father. Rikku, Brother, and Cid adopted me into their family. I ended up in Bi- when I first came to Spira, they rescued me. We're just really close, that's why we can call each other brother or sister. They didn't actually adopt adopt me." He seemed to be less tense when I told him this. Whew! That was close, I almost mentioned Bikanel Island and that's a big Al Bhed no no. I was listening in on Tidus' and Wakka's conversation.

"We're not using that, are we? Wait... Sir Auron isn't an Al Bhed too, is he?" Oh no he didn't. He did not just bad mouth my father. I threw down my pocketknife, sped walked over to the blitzer, and punched him in the face. Actually succeeding, unlike earlier. He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He held his jaw and looked at me. Wakka was now a ghostly white and afraid of what I was going to do next. I grabbed his half shirt straps.

"Don't you ever, bad mouth my father." our faces were two inches apart. "I swear to your precious Yevon, if you do that again, you will answer to me."Wakka shuddered. I let go and he fell back to the ground. I stood up and went back over to fixing the snowmobiles. Auron spoke.

"That temper is going to get you into a lot of trouble one day." He smirked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"What can I say; I'm my father's daughter." This sent him into a small chuckle. I continued to fix the snowmobile and went back to listening to Wakka and Tidus' conversation, which seemed to cool down a little bit after I had punched him.

"Come on, Wakka..." Tidus help Wakka off the ground.

"What?" he said rubbing his jaw.

"I mean, getting angry just 'cause you found out Rikku and Sanako are Al Bhed... You guys got along just fine till now, didn't you?" I'm so glad Tidus was on our side.

"That's different. I mean..."

"Well, I don't claim to know that much about Spira. And I probably know even less about the Al Bhed, but...I know Rikku's a good person. She's just Rikku! So is my girlfriend. Sanako and I have been through a lot together. You'll just have to get used to it."

"Lu?"

"Just think of this as an opportunity to learn more about the Al Bhed. One more thing Wakka, I would highly advise to think before you speak in Sanako's presence." I heard her laugh. We finished up with the snowmobiles and walked over to the others.

"Ha!" Wakka stormed off. I went forward to stop him, I kind of felt bad for punching him. I felt my father put a hand on my shoulder.

"Let him go. Give him time to think."

"I'm sorry."Rikku said almost in whisper.

"You've done nothing to apologize for." Lulu told her coolly.

"On the other hand, I'm thinking now, maybe I shouldn't have punched him." I rubbed my arm and my head hung low. I felt Lulu put a finger under my chin and raise it up.

"No. I'm sad to say this, but I think Wakka needed that. Sometimes he just doesn't use his common sense." I nodded. Tidus spoke.

"All right! Let's ride!"

"You sure you know how to drive this?" Rikku asked him.

"Better than Kimahri does!" We watched as Kimahri had a hard time with the bike. Then we all paired up, hopped on the snowmobiles, and headed to the Macalania Temple.

* * *

I took a deep breath, taking in the cool air from the snow-covered hills. I ended up being paired with Lulu on the snowmobile. I actually was rather thankful for this. She's an easy person to talk to. About a half, an hour went by, before Lulu spoke, cutting the tension with a knife.

"I hope that you're not too mad at Wakka." I sighed and then replied.

"Hey, not at all. I'm just tired of people judging me by my race, instead of getting to know me first." She sighed, relieved that I didn't actually hate him, which I don't. I just wish he would think for himself as Rikku had said.

"Thank you." I decided to ask her something personal.

"Say, what do you think of Rikku and me? Hold on a sec-"we hit a rock hard which sent us about an inch off the ground. I felt her grasp onto my stomach so she wouldn't fall off. I quickly got the snowmobile back on track.

"Me? I think that you two are fun to be with. You balance this group out with the bubbli-ness and your temper." I laughed aloud and it echoed through the icy glaciers.

"Heh! Is that all?" I said jokingly.

"Well, I can tell that you aren't bad people." At least she was one of those that thought so.

"Yeah. You know what the problem is? We're just Al Bhed to Wakka. Wakka's head is as hard as a rock. I bet it's because of Yevon. Or, you know, something like that."

"Well, there's more to it than that."

"Hmm?" I shuddered. I really wasn't wearing the right type of clothing for traveling through ice and snow.

"Wakka doesn't like the Al Bhed because of his brother Chappu."

"What happened? I mean if I'm not intruding."

"Not at all. He used a machina weapon and got killed by Sin."

"Damn it Jecht."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing! Hey... Can someone like a human become Sin ever?"I glanced at her over my shoulder and then turned my eyes back to the road.

"I can't say that I know, but why?"

"Just a thought."

"Sin is the punishment for, and the incarnation of, crimes we have committed."

"Hmm. So, no one really knows what it is?"

"There's no need to know, so no one asks. You run or you fight. That is really all you can do. There's no sense brooding over it."

"What, that's all? I mean, you don't even wonder?" I heard her chuckle.

"You really do come from a world where there is no Sin, like you say."

* * *

We made our way to the temple, leaving the bikes outside. The paths twisted and turned until we finally got to the temple door, a Yevon monk was guarding it. Immediately when he saw Rikku and me he spoke up. "Halt! The likes of those two are not welcome in this hallowed place."

"They are guardians." Auron piped up.

"Al Bhed guardians? Preposterous!"

"I've decided to be Yuna's guardian now, and that's all I want."

"Me too." Auron backed us up.

"And that's all one needs to be a guardian."

"Very well." He let us pass and then I heard him say something else to Auron. "I will hold you personally responsible if anything happens." I moved towards him, but Lulu spoke.

"Sanako, don't. He's not worth your time." I nodded and followed every one inside.

* * *

Inside the Great hall, we met up once again with Tromell Guado. "Ah, Lady Yuna's guardians! I haven't thanked you for your help earlier." He bowed deeply to show his thanks. "Thanks to you I was able to bring Lady Yuna here safely. You have my sincerest gratitude."Tromell walked away and us Guardians went to go await Yuna at the Chamber of the Faith, but the guard wouldn't let us through. Just then, a nun came out of her quarters and collapsed. I ran down the stairs and helped her up. She seemed a little frightened.

"What's wrong?"

"Lord Jyscal! A sphere, in Lady Yuna's belongings..." 'Oh cred.' (Shit.) She bowed thanking me and I ran into the room. I rummaged through everything in the room until I found it. The sphere glinted a dark blue. Was there really a way to tell what type of memory it was just by the color? A few seconds later, everyone else came into the room. Auron spoke.

"This may well answer a few questions." I handed the sphere to Tidus since he knew how to play them. He hit the button and the sphere began to play.

"What I am about to tell you is the unclouded truth. I swear it on my honor as a Guado. Listen to me very carefully, for I shall tell you the truth about my son, Seymour. His mind is closed even to me, a Maester of Yevon. But I can feel flames of darkness burning in his heart. He is using Yevon, the Guado, and even the summoners. If he is not stopped, he will surely bring destruction and chaos to Spira. I will leave this world soon, killed by my own son. But I do not fault him. Because I was not wise enough, he has suffered, and become twisted. I could not protect him and his mother from the world and its cruelty. I will accept death as punishment for my deeds. But whoever is watching this... I implore you to stop Seymour! Stop my son." The sphere began to fade and finally went black.

"Wonderful." Auron said adjusting his sunglasses. Rikku spoke and I could sense how worried about her cousin she was just by her voice alone.

"Will Yuna be all right?"

"Without us, no."

"That's why we're her guardians. To keep her safe." Auron, Kimahri, and Rikku left after I said this. Tidus and I went to leave, but Wakka spoke confused about everyone's actions.

"Where you goin'?"

"You saw, didn't you? Seymour's bad news!"

"He could seriously hurt Yuna or worse Wakka!" I said in a worried tone.

"But he's a Maester!"

"Hmph. Fine! Stay here if you want!" Tidus hoisted me on his back. "Trust me, it's faster this way." He ran to the main hall, where we would face Seymour and confront him for the last time.

* * *

"Kimahri's up ahead. Go." Auron said pointing.

"Right!" Tidus said as we reached Auron. He kept me on his back.

"We will protect Yuna from anyone. Even a maester." Auron spouted.

"This can't be happening." Wakka spoke, still in disbelief.

"If he is truly at fault, it must be done." Lulu said coolly. Tidus ran forward. Honestly, I was scared. My heart was going faster than it should, but it had to be done. We had stop Seymour, for Jyscal's sake.

* * *

We came upon the Chamber of the Fayth and Seymour was standing at the inner door. Tidus finally put me down and I whipped out my weapons, as did everyone else when they arrived.

"Seymour!" Tidus shouted.

"Please be silent. Lady Yuna prays to the Fayth."

"Like hell we will!" I yelled angrily at him. Seymour began to descend the stairs and stood between the two guards, smirking. The door opened and Yuna stepped out. "Yuna!" I kept myself from moving towards her, if I moved, who knew what Seymour would do.

"Oh! But why...?" she came down to us. Tidus beat everyone else to the punch.

"We saw Jyscal's sphere."

"You killed him." Auron glared at the Guado through his sunglasses.

"What of it? Lady Yuna, certainly you know of these things, did you not?" She nodded. "Well then, why have you come here?" she seemed wary, but got a burst of confidence.

"I came... I came to stop you!"

"I see. You came to punish me, then." Seymour had the audacity to hold out his hand towards her. Yuna backed away. "What a pity." We surrounded Yuna, willing to give ourselves if had to. "Ah, of course. 'Protect the summoner even at the cost of one's life.' The Code of the Guardian. How admirable. Well, if you're offering your lives, I will have to take them.

"Maester Seymour, I trust my guardians with my life. But they are also my friends. I will not stand by and watch them be hurt. I will fight you, too!"

"Our destinies may have intertwined briefly Seymour," I paused. "But this is where it ends. Your story ends here!" Wakka pleaded.

"Maester Seymour!"

"So be it." We began our grueling battle with the Guado. Several of us tried to talk to him, to get him to see the light, but we weren't successful. All of the sudden the ground began to shake. "Feel my pain! Come, Anima!" Something began to rise out of the ground. It was the Aeon that he had summoned in Luca. Before anyone could do anything, Anima powered up.

"No! Yuna!" Anima had sent a bolt of lightning at her and I sprinted towards my friend and blocked the spell. "AAAHHH!!!" I fell to my knees, shaking violently from the excess electricity running through my body. I heard everyone else gasp.

"Sana!" I heard Auron call. I spoke, still trembling.

"I'm-f-f-fine, Dad." I bent over further, still in immense pain.

"Sanko!" I felt Yuna's hands on my body. I forced myself to look up at her considering how hard it was to move.

"Yu-Yuna, use-th-the new Aeon." She took her hands off my body and stood up right. I hugged my stomach. All I could do was sit there and continue to shake. I felt drool running down my chin. I was temporarily paralyzed.

"O Fayth, lend me strength!" Her Aeon appeared in front of me. The woman appeared to be smiling at me and then she turned around. The gracious Aeon spun around summoning ice crystals and it all formed together and frosted Anima, destroying it in seconds. With a whisper, Yuna dismissed her Aeon.

"That power that defeated Anima... It will be mine!" Seymour said maliciously. Yuna ran to him. "Yuna...you would pity me now?" Seymour died right in front of us.

"Kimahri, would you carry Sanako?" I heard Tidus ask the Ronso. I heard a grunt in reply.

"No worry, Sanako. Kimahri keep you safe." I felt his fur against my skin and the lightning continued to crackle through my body. He had hoisted me on his back and my head fell forward onto his shoulder.

"Uggghhh…" more drool ran onto my chin and some dripped onto Kimahri. I heard several people enter the room, more distinctly Tromell Guado.

"Lord Seymour! What happened here?"

"What...what have I done?" Wakka said in disbelief. I heard Tidus shouting.

"Wait a minute! It's not our fault at all! Seymour struck first! He's the bad guy!"

"H-he sp-speaks t-t-the tr-truth."

"Sana, don't speak." I heard Rikku tell me.

"You did this?" Tromell asked puzzled and in the same disbelief as Wakka. Auron spoke firmly to Yuna.

"Yuna. Send him." From what I heard next, Tromell resisted the sending and him calling us traitors. It was getting harder to hold on, but I had to. I wanted to make sure we made it out. Tromell exited with Seymour's body.

"Now hold on just a minute! Seymour's the bad guy, right? We'll just explain to everyone what happened!" Tidus exclaimed.

"It won't be that easy. Let's get out of here." Auron pointed to the way out. Kimahri adjusted my weight and made sure that I was doing okay. I listened to them struggle through the Cloister of trials and I felt the room go from being cold to warm. That's when I could feel we were in the main hall. I wished I could stop shaking, but I knew I had done the right thing by saving Yuna's life.

* * *

My vision had gone blurry and it was hard to see anything at all. I was still in extreme pain and wondered if it would ever stop. Now I know how Rikku felt when this happened to her. Yuna and the others tried to convince Tromell to let them explain. "Please..." I felt something running out of my nose. I pushed through the pain and wiped it. It turned out I was having a nosebleed from being in shock. It smeared across my face when I wiped it, but continued to flow. I began to shake violently again. Kimahri whispered to me.

"Hang on Sanako. You will be better. Kimahri keep you safe."

"Give us a chance to explain." I heard Auron exclaim. Tromell bit back.

"No need, I already know what I'll tell the other Maesters."

"Meaning...?"

"Lord Seymour was the leader of the Guado before becoming a Maester."

"You're not letting us go." Tidus stated in plain English for all of us to understand.

"Let you go? Lord Seymour would never forgive us if we did." Rikku got an idea.

"Wait, wait! Jyscal's sphere! We can show it to them!" I tried to raise my head to see what was happening, but the spell was to powerful. I could feel my body wanting to stop working.

"You mean this?" I heard something shatter and knew it had been sphere about Jyscal. Tromell crushed the evidence.

"Hey!"

"The Guado take care of Guado affairs." I felt Kimahri move swiftly, but without dropping me at the same time. He had swung his spear to clear a path for us to escape.

"Away!" he shouted. Auron shouted as well.

"Run!"

"Yuna," I heard Lulu speak in between breaths. "As soon as we are clear, you must heal Sanako. If we wait too much longer it'll be too late."

"Right." What Lulu said, was definitely not, what I wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Honestly, in that moment, I prayed to Yevon several times, hoping that I wouldn't die or half of my body would be paralyzed. A few minutes later, I heard the others fighting and this time I knew they were trying to protect me, Yuna included. Once again, the ground began to shake and we fell through the frozen lake, falling to the depths below.

* * *

I tried to move, but found I was only making the pain worse. "Uggghhh…" I felt myself slowly slipping away. I gasped for breath. Everything was getting dark. I heard shouting and everyone looked like pyreflies.

"Yunie hurry!" I felt something take my hand, but it didn't register in my brain. "Sana don't die!" I felt water drop on to my face, which were actually tears. I kept gasping for breath. "Sanako! I need you! I need my sister!" I felt my eyelids getting heavy. I heard someone begin to whisper. Then I heard the Hymn of the Fayth. I felt a warm flow of energy go through body and counter act the lightning. I felt the air come back into my lungs with relief. My eyes began to roll back into my head for some much needed rest. I felt Yuna place a hand on my shoulder. "Sanako, sleep for a bit."

"We have to keep moving." I tried to sit up, but Rikku wouldn't let me. She wiped my face off with a cool cloth, getting rid of the drool and dried blood.

"Sana, please, just rest okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes. I fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"We're under the lake ice, aren't we?" Lulu looked up. "Look. That's the bottom of the temple. We've fallen a long way." Lulu became silent.

"What now, I wonder." Auron sighed

"What now?" You act first and think later, don't you? I mean, can't you be a little more responsible? We're all depending on you. You know?" Tidus teased.

"A lecture?"

"No, no, no." Tidus chuckled. "Just a suggestion."

"You should place trust in your friends. But you can't expect someone to protect you all the time. You would do well to remember that. Especially after what my daughter did." He paused. "I don't know if I could ever do what she did."

"Is that a lecture?"

"It's advice. Young summoners are magnets for trouble." He chuckled. Tidus noticed Wakka off by himself and walked over to sighed and his hung low.

"Hey, Wakka, would you cheer up? Look, we only did what we had to do." Tidus said placing a hand on his friends shoulder.

"It doesn't matter! Don't you see? I've always walked the path of Yevon...but now, I'm a traitor. How could this happen?" He shook his fist at Rikku and the sleeping Sanako. "Damn." Tidus shook his head and placed his hands on his hips.

"It's not Rikku or Sanako's fault either." Wakka sighed. Tidus looked over to see Yuna keeping watch over Sana. He was so glad that she was Alright.

" You don't know how I feel." Tidus left Wakka to his thoughts and went over to where Kimahri and the others were. Kimarhi saw Tidus' worried look.

"Sanako will wake soon. Kimahri knows this." Tidus saw Rikku was worried. He gave her a quick friendly hug.

"I just can't believe that she did that." Yuna said quietly, almost in whisper. "No one's ever survived an Aeon attack like that before. Her heart must be strong. I hope she'll be alright." Yuna went quiet and kept on eye on her sleeping friend.

"I'm sure Sanako's okay. She's breathing fine and all. How are Lulu and Wakka?"

"Mmm...Well, Wakka's in shock. Can't blame him, either. And Lulu, well, she's just the same as always."

"Have you noticed how Sanako is all the time? She's so together. All grown up, I guess."

"I guess. It's only because she's lost so much. That's the real reason." Tidus looked at his girlfriend. He wished she would wake up, or wished he knew how much she had been hurt.

"Well, just give me a couple more years."

"So, Kimahri, how do we get out of here?" Rikku hit Tidus playfully.

"Hey, don't change the subject!"

"We climb."

"Kimahri, too!"

"Only those who try will become." Kimahri looked at Sanako and then back to Rikku.

"Huh?"

"I think he means you have to work hard if you want to be like Sanako." Tidus thought it was nice for Sanako having someone want to be like her.

" Oh! I will!"

" Kimahri think Rikku should stay Rikku."

" Huh? Hey! Are you saying I'll never be like Sanako! Kimahri!" Tidus laughed at his young friend. Wakka rejoined the group and heard Tidus laughing.

"How can you laugh at a time like this!?" Sanako began to stir. Tidus shouted.

"Sanako!"

* * *

Tidus helped me to sit up. He slipped me a kiss, right in front of my father and I began to blush. I put a hand on my forehead. I felt disoriented. Lulu slipped me a small bottle. "Drink this, it should help." I was hesitant at first , but downed the liquid. If was going to help me I didn't care what it was.

"Are you sure you should walk?" I had stood up after taking that concoction.

"I'm perfectly fine Ti. Much better after that nap." Auron placed a hand on the top of my head.

"What?"

"You know, you make the perfect Gaurdian." He smiled and then we began walking and trying to find a way out.

* * *

After a while, the group took a rest. While we were all resting Yuna revealed her true intentions. "I wanted to confront Maester Seymour about his father, Lord Jyscal. I wanted to convince him to turn himself into Yevon's judgement."

" In exchange for marriage?" Lulu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, if that's what it took."

"So, what did Seymour say?" I asked crossing my arms.

"He didn't say anything. Now...now I don't even think it was worth it. I should've told you what I was going to do."

"No worries. You're safe that's all that-"Auron interrupted me.

"Enough. Dwelling in the past is futile."

"Hey! You don't have to say it like that!

"You want to waste time listening to her regrets?"

"You don't have to say it like that."

"She's got a point Auron. You have a lot to learn about the feelings of teenage girls." I kidded with him. He rolled his eyes and continued.

"Our immediate concern is Yuna's pilgrimage. Are you willing to go on?"

"Yes. But then, do you think Yevon will allow it?"

"The fayth are the ones that give power to the summoners. Not the temples or the teachings. If the temples try to stop us...then we will defy Yevon if we must."

"Whoa!" Tidus said, almost flying into the air. Rikku put her hands on her cheeks.

"I can't believe you said that!" Lulu questioned him.

"Sir Auron!?" I jumped off the rock I was sitting and pounded my fist into my other hand.

"I'm all for it! What more can we do anyway? We've all ready been called traitors you know. I hate to say it, but what choice do we really have?" the others agreed, but Wakka still protested.

"Count me out. We have to atone, to make up for the sins we have committed. Of course...it's not like I ever liked Maester Seymour, ya? No way I'll ever forgive him for killing Lord Jyscal...and for trying to do us all in too, you know? But still, the bunch of us going against Yevon? No way!" Lulu shook her head.

"But still, we have transgressed and must face our punishment."

"We must go to Bevelle. We must speak with Maester Mika and explain what has happened. There is no other way, I think."

"Right." For once Wakka agreed with Yuna and I.

"I agree." Lulu nodded.

"Sir Auron..."

"So it is decided."

"Auron will you be going?" I asked him. I still was at the halfway point of calling him Auron and the other half wanting to call him dad.

"Will you come with us?"

"I am the troublemaker, after all." He smirked.

"Yeah, that's right! You can always count on Auron to complicate things!" I ran and jumped onto his back and cuddled into the side of his neck.

"Be nice. That's my father you're talking about! Don't make me hurt you!" we began to laugh. I kissed him quickly on the side of his neck. Then I got back down and he hugged me from behind.

"Yeah!" Rikku shouted, jumping into the air briefly.

"I never asked you to follow me." He stated plainly.

"Is it not okay for kin to even follow you?"

"Hey, but that's what friends are for. Right?" I nodded at Tidus' remark. Rikku agreed.

"Yep!" Yuna came over to Tidus and I. She bowed.

"Thank you."

"Friends, huh?"Tidus chuckled at her statement.

"What?"she rubbed the back of her head.

"It's just the first time a non-Al Bhed called me that."

"Man... How can you all act like nothing's wrong ya? Must got nerves of steel or something." I ran up behind Wakka and put him in headlock like he had done many moons ago. I gave him a noogie then released.

"Nope! I just have caffine for blood!" I saw Lulu stifle a laugh and then became serious.

"You're too edgy. Listen to the hymn and calm down." We began to walk again. I asked a question, not really directed at anyone.

"That's coming from the temple right?" Yuna bowed and continued walking.

"Yes, it is Yevon's gift. It soothes the hearts of the faithful." I felt a change in the air. Something wasn't right. No fiends were popping out. I felt a headache coming on fast. I put a hand to my forehead and furrowed my eyebrows. "Sanako what's wrong?" I waved my hand.

"It's nothing I'm sure. Just not used to be at this low of an altitude I guess."

"Jecht used to sing this song..." Auron pointed out. Now that I think about it. I guess he did. At least 3 times every hour when I visited Tidus at his home. Tidus laughed a little.

"Yeah, over and over. But not this good, that's for sure."

"Another trait you share." Auron smirked. I remembered something.

"You used to sing it too you know, before I went to bed every night." I saw a meek smile appear on my fathers face.

"Ahh…I guess I did. Can you remember how it goes?" Everyone stopped and I leaned up against a wall. I rubbed my temples and then I clapped my hands together.

"Now I know." They listened as I began to sing. I wasn't too bad of a singer if I say so myself.

"I e yui

No bo menu

Ren miri

Yo ju yogo

Hasa te kanae

Kuta mae"

Wakka seemed much calmer, even though an Al Bhed had just sung the Hymn. Everyone seemed to have a small smile on their faces, even me. We continued to walk through the fog. "Say, how'd you two get to Zanarkand, anyway? Sin?" Neither me or Auron answered. "Uh-huh, I thought so." I stopped in mid step.

"Sanako, what's wrong ya?" I shook my head.

"Something's not- does anyone notice anything different?" I put my hands on my ears. I began to hear a small squealing noise. Like a buzzer that only, you can hear. "Does anyone hear that?"

"Hear what?" Tidus asked. It was too silent. Lulu spoke into the eeriness.

"The singing stopped." I instantly grabbed my arm and went to the ground. I felt Lulu grab me from behind and help to stand. "Sanako, what's wrong?" I spoke through gritted teeth.

"He's here." I knew she was confused. "I-it's SIN." The ground rumbled.

"SIN!?" Yuna shouted. I stood at Lulu's side now, still holding my arm in pain.

"The toxin! Watch out!" Lulu shouted. Everything was jumbled messed up images and then it went fuzzy. It was then I knew…that SIN really was Jetch. I was finally able to believe it. Along with everyone else's help, I would help find a way to end Jetch's suffering.

* * *

So what did you think? The main reason why the chapters are getting longer is because of the detail I put into it, so other readers who haven't heard or even seen anything of Final Fantasy, can read it too. Another reason is because I'm using the actual script dialogues from the game. Anyway please Review! I'm not trying to sound mean or anything, but so far only one person has reviewed chapter 9. *sad face L* if you have any ideas or any comments or whatever the case may be, send it to me and I'll find a way to add in or fix things. On to typing the next chapter!


	11. AN

okay, i realized that after i deleated the author's note, that you might not have been alerted about the new chapter so yet again, i have to change the info. just bear with me. origato.

zutarafn1


	12. Bikanel Island Part 3

Wow! It's been forever since I have updated. I feel so bad and I want to apologize for all those who have been waiting. I also want to thank you for all of the reviews! You people are so kind! There was one review from a reader named Wolf who presented some good points, and for all you peeps, I plan on doing a revised version of this story! That means more details of the fights, the areas that they visit, chapters cut into more than one part, and maybe more scenes with Sanako and other characters, etc…well I know you want to read more so I won't babble on!

*Final Fantasy Victory Fanfare*

One more thing, consider the authors note that was in this spot, deleted! Bwahahahahahaha…ha...er…I'm done. ^-^'

* * *

Bikanel Island part 3

"Ohhhh....my head." I sat up and my limbs began to the throb. "Where am I?" I looked around and saw that I was surrounded by sand. Miles and miles of sand. I knew in an instant where I was. Bikanel for the third time I might add. I looked around and I saw no one in sight that had gotten sucked up by SIN. I was still feeling a little bit of a buzz from Anima's spell. I went to stand up only to find myself going back down and grabbing my right leg, shouting out loud in pain. I looked on the side of my calve muscle and saw a gash about 2 inches deep. "Damn." I thought and looked around for something that I could use and finally just ripped off one of my sleeves off my favorite jacket and wrapped it around the gash as tight as I could. I stood up and it still throbbed too much to walk on, but I had to find everyone else. "Seriously how hard is it to find someone in a desert, especially since Rikku and I live here?" I stopped in my tracks because I heard a weird flapping sound.

"Cawwww!!!!!!" I ducked on the ground. I looked up and saw a wild Zu. I rolled my eyes and stood up. I wished that I wasn't fighting alone, but I didn't really have a choice. I tried to runaway, but this monster had other plans.

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!!" I went into my overdrive and sliced it to pieces. I dropped to my knees. I felt the sweat running down my face and into my eyes. I took a look at my leg and saw that the wound was bleeding to where the jacket sleeve was now soaked.

"Sanako!" I saw Rikku running towards me waving. She dropped onto her knees in front of me. "I'm so glad I found you! Hey, I thought you were with the others?" I shook my head.

"No, I've been trying to find them." I sat on my butt and I had one I eye closed from the bright sun. "Did you possibly pass a shelter or something?"

"Yeah, just a little ways over that sand dune. Why?"

"I need to get out of this sun and we can wait there for the others to find us instead of wondering aimlessly." she nodded. We stood up and made our way to the shelter.

* * *

"Ohhhh…Thank goodness for shade!" I said lying down under the machina shelter. I felt the drops of sweat still rolling down my forehead. I closed my eyes for a few moments. I just laid there feeling my chest rise and fall. I laid and just…in all honesty thought about nothing. For once I didn't have a care in the world. The others would find us and we could continue Yuna's pilgrimage.

"Sana? Sana?" I jumped and looked over at her.

"Sorry I just dozed off." I sat up and leaned up against the wall of shelter. "What is it?" I saw her eyes darken. Her mood changed and she seemed almost sad. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Rikku?" I saw tears fall down her cheeks. She sniffled and sobbed. I turned and sat on my knees and then pulled her over to me and just hugged her. She shook and cried. I stroked her hair and spoke softly. "Ku, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." I brushed her bangs out of her face and wiped her tears away. I hated seeing my little "sister" so sad. I hated that face on her. I liked seeing her happy. "What is it? You can tell me." she rubbed her eyes, sniffled, and then spoke.

"I-I almost lost you!" the tears began to run down her cheeks again, but this time she had an angry face. "You almost- I couldn't take if you-"I put my hands on her shoulders and stared her straight in the eyes and my face became serious.

"Rikku, it's my job as a guardian. I couldn't let Yuna, your cousin, "my cousin" and best friend die." I uttered the word that she could not. I watched more tears fall down her face. I put one hand on the top of her head. "I'm not going anywhere." she collapsed into my arms and hugged me tightly. She sobbed and rested her forehead on my collar bone.

"You promise?" I breathed in the sandy air, mixed with salt and sunshine. I hugged her tightly and whispered.

"I promise." I rubbed her back and let go. "Feel better?" she nodded and wiped her nose and the rest of her tears away. I resituated myself to where I was sitting on my butt. I looked over at the dunes that surrounded us.

"Sanako your leg!" I looked over and it was bleeding again.

"Cred! Forgive my language…I sure hope the others get here soon."(Shit) I began to take the sleeve off my wound. I felt the fibers of the jacket wanting to stay connected with my flesh. I finally got the sleeve off and the gash wanted to heal, but it needed more than just a jacket sleeve. I saw the wheels turning in Rikku's head. I watched as she looked around. She grabbed two wooden planks that were near by. Then she rummaged around in her pocket where her grenades were kept and pulled out gauze. I felt my eyes widen. She saw and giggled.

"Brother forced me to be this prepared." I smiled and laughed, agreeing with that statement. She began to wrap my wound tightly first. I hissed because of the burning. "Sorry." I shook my head. She brought the planks to both sides of my calve muscle. "Hold these." I did as I was told. I watched her take the gauze and now wrap the top of the planks and then the bottom of them. She finished up and stuck the gauze back in her grenade pocket. "That should hold for a while." I looked at the wrapping and it looked almost, professional.

"You should be like a nurse or somethin'." She laughed and shook her head and hands. I lay on my side. I slowly drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

I felt Rikku shaking me. "Sanako, it's the others look." I sat up and saw them coming over the dune. First I stretched and then I began waving and shouting.

"Hey guys! Over here!" Tidus waved back at me. Rikku seemed a little worried.

"Where's Yunie?" I saw Tidus hesitate, and then tell her the news. We stepped out from underneath the shelter.

"Gone."

"Gone..."Lulu shook her head. "Some guardian I am."

"Lu…" I wanted to comfort her, but I couldn't think of anything to say. "Umm... There's something we wanna tell you, but promise not to say anything." Rikku and I saw Wakka's scowl directed at us. She spoke up.

"No glaring either! I know where we are. We're on Bikanel Island. There's a place us Al Bhed call HOME near here. Yunie's there, I'm sure of it! Other Al Bhed must've come and rescued her!" Wakka argued.

"Rescued? You mean kidnapped!" Tidus backed us up again.

"What does it matter as long as she's safe?" he came over and took my hand. I squeezed his hand lightly and I continued Rikku's thought.

"That's right! Anyway, we'll take you there if you promise... that you won't tell anyone about it. Especially not Yevonites, okay? You know they don't like us Al Bhed. Who knows what they'll do if they knew?"

"Gimme a break. What are you accusing Yevon of this time?" Rikku and Wakka began to bicker back and forth.

"Yevon did something really bad to us before."

"Well, you Al Bhed must've deserved it." Tidus expressed his aggravation before I could.

"Argh! Can't you guys...talk about this later?" I shook my head and smiled to myself.

"Just promise you won't tell anyone about this island. Promise?"

"Wakka, come on!"

"All right, I promise! Lead the way." Rikku and I nodded at the same time.

"You got it!" Rikku and I stepped ahead of the group and began to lead them through the desert. Rikku lost her way a couple of times, but I got us back on track. "Hey, Ku I think Home should be right over that dune. You wanna race?" she looked at me weirdly with a raised eyebrow. "My leg is fine. Ready? Go!" I sprinted ahead pushing through the pain. I heard her shout.

"No fair! You got a head start!" I made it to the top of the dune and threw my hands in air. She wasn't even halfway up the dune yet.

"You loose! Step it up next time! I'm even wounded and I still whipped you!" I laughed and turned around to see… I froze and my body became tense. I shook my head and spoke in a whisper. "No…" the tears fell down my cheeks. "No!"

"Sana! What-" I didn't let her finish her sentence, I bolted towards HOME, where it was being besieged by an army of fiends. I heard Rikku shout and new she was running towards HOME as well. Then Tidus shouted something, but I was too busy worrying about my friends and family in HOME. One in particular, Gippal. I wondered why that was…

* * *

"Gippal! Gippal!" Rikku came up behind me. We both had tears in eyes. We saw a man in yellow collapse. Rikku ran forward.

"Keyakku! Fru. Fru'c yddylgehk ic?" I understood every word. (Who? Who's attacking us?) I walked over and kneeled next to him. I pulled him up onto my lap to help him relieve some strain on his body.

"Yevon... Guado..." Keyakku died in my arms. His blood was all over my hands and clothes. Rikku shouted as more tears fell down her face, as well as mine.

"Keyakku? Keyakku!" Lulu spoke.

"A war? Between Yevon and the Al Bhed?" I felt a hand on my back, it was Cid. He spoke in Al Bhed.

"Dryd ec fnuhk! kiytu ku vun dra cissuhan."(That is wrong! Guado go for the summoner.) Rikku spoke quietly.

"Vydran…" (Father...)

"Cid, Keyyaku, ra-ra'c-" (Cid, Keyakku, he-he's-) I began to weep uncontrollably. Cid took Keyyaku from me and embraced him, then put him on the ground gently. Tidus came over and helped me up. I cried into his chest. After a few moments, decided that I had to pull myself together for everyone's sake. I wiped my eyes and thanked Ti for comforting me. Cid spoke in Spiran.

"You Rikku and Sanako's friends? Well, just don't stand there, come on! Let's go kick those Guado out of our Home!" Cid sprinted off. Rikku was still looking at Keyyaku glumly. Tidus was confused.

"Who...?"

"Cid. Leader of the Al Bhed... He's our dad." Rikku said quietly.

"Let's go." I said strongly.

"Yeah. We have to save Yunie." Tidus brought something to our attention.

"Not only Yuna. Right?"

"Right!" We all ran inside to save who we could.

* * *

We stepped inside one of the towers and got blasted with heat from all of the fires and our lungs ambushed by the black smoke. I kept telling myself to push through the pain of everything, including my leg, for Yuna's sake. We came to a platform with several bridges around in each direction. Wakka shouted out loud. "Yuna! Where are you?" Just then a band of Guado and fiends came barreling in to stop us. We took care of them as fast as possible.

"Let's find Yuna, quick!" Tidus said sternly.

"What in Yevon's name are those Guado thinking ya?" Rikku broke the 5 minutes of silence.

"This is terrible!" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and looked at Rikku with my eyes watering.

"Drec-Drec bmyla ec vehecrat."(This-This place is finished.) I felt a single tear run down my cheek. Before we continued, she uttered back a small reply.

"E ghuf."(I know). We continued through the door and into the next corridor, soon hearing Cid's voice on the intercom.

"Drec pedac! Rikku! Sanako! Oui nayt sa? Oui ku ihtan, duu! E ys majamehk Rusa! Yht dra veahtc fedr ed!"(This bites! Rikku! Sanako! You read me? You go under, too! I am leveling Home! And the fiends with it!).

"Oh, no!" Rikku shouted.

"What'd he say!?" Wakka looked in my direction.

"We have to get underground!" I paused, and then continued. "Hurry!" I said trying to get them to move. Auron stood still.

"Where's Yuna?" Rikku gave him the short answer that he wanted.

"The Summoners' Sanctum! This way!" We just kept going, the others following Rikku and I to the sanctum, praying that Yuna was there. I heard someone mutter.

"Yuna! Where are you?" It was Tidus who spoke. I know he said he didn't-but I couldn't help but let my thoughts drift. He really did seem as if he l-loved her. Maybe he did. If that was the case, I just don't know what I'd do. We found the doorway that would lead us to the sanctum stairs. Then we would be at the sanctum. Rikku shouted.

"Over here!" We stepped through the door and then took a 5 minute rest.

* * *

"This place done for." As soon as Wakka said this, I decided to let my tears fall. There was no holding them back anymore. HOME, my home, our home was being destroyed, and by the minute becoming un-repairable. Rikku broke the silence. I felt my father come up behind me.

"You're right. You're right, Wakka. We Al Bhed, we...we weren't always like this. Sin destroyed the island where we all used to live. After that, we were scattered to every corner of Spira. But then, my dad brought the Al Bhed together again. If we few put our minds to it and worked together, then we could make a new home." I turned around and cried into my father's chest. "Everyone worked hard, we had our Home back again... But now... Why did things have to turn out this way?" I saw Wakka hug Rikku and hold her as she cried. Just as Auron was doing for me right now.

"Rikku...Damn those Guado! What are they thinking?" We narrowly escaped another attack by Guado and decided our break was over, we would have time to cry later. We headed down the stairs for what seemed the longest time and then stopped to catch our breath again. Lulu spoke in her cool voice. I felt like my heart was going to explode from running and the events that were going on around us.

"Sanako, Rikku, what is the Summoners' Sanctum?" Rikku spoke first.

"The Summoners' Sanctum is where we keep the summoners. We keep them safe there."

"You kidnapped them." Wakka said crossing his arms. I nodded and brushed my bangs away before I spoke.

"We know it's against the teachings and all that…"Wakka cut me off, but not in a rude way.

"I get why you did it, but..."Tidus rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Well, I sure don't get it, Wakka. They might get hurt on their pilgrimage so you kidnap them? I mean, if the summoners don't do their job, then who will beat Sin? You want to protect them, I know. But guardians are there for that. If guardians do their job well, summoners will be safe! Right?" No one said in anything in reply. "Right!?" He doesn't know, they haven't told him what happens when they reach Zanarkand. He's the only one who doesn't know. I wanted to tell him, but I didn't have the heart to. Kimahri broke the silence.

"It's quiet. Kimahri goes now."

* * *

Rikku was the first to reach the sanctum. "Yuna, please be here!" I gasped as soon as I stepped inside. Towers and walls were collapsing, smoke surrounded the area. But nothing was as frightening as seeing the Al Bhed bodies everywhere. People we knew. People who I had gotten close to. I furrowed my brow and took a deep breath. I knew that sooner or later I would have my chance. I would deal with the Guado for what they had done to my home. Kimahri shouted.

"Yuna!"

"She's not here." a woman spoke. A man walked up next to her. "Hello again. Wait there until we have performed the sending." the man spoke.

"They died...protecting us. It's not much, but the least we can do is give them a proper sending." a young boy ran up to me. He looked at my eyes and then spoke.

"Hey, um, what's "sacrificed"? The Al Bhed said summoners were being "sacrificed." That summoners shouldn't have to do a pilgrimage..." My heart skipped a beat. I couldn't get any words out. I just shook my head and walked over to comfort Rikku. Tidus began to speak.

"Why couldn't they trust guardians to protect the summoners? The Al Bhed had no right stopping their pilgrimage!" Rikku stood up and looked him in the eye.

"The pilgrimages have to stop! If they don't, and they get to Zanarkand... They might defeat Sin. Yunie could...but then she..."she paused, I had to stop her. I stood up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Rikku, hold your tongue." she listened to me. I stepped in front of her. "Ti," I felt more tears welling up in my eyes. "What Rikku's saying is- Yuna will die." I felt Rikku grab me from behind and begin crying on my back. "You know, don't you? Summoners journey to get the Final Aeon. Yuna told you, didn't she? With the Final Aeon, she can beat Sin. But then...but then... If she calls it, the Final Aeon's going to kill her! Even if she defeats Sin, it will kill Yuna too, you know!" Time seemed to stop. He spoke in a whisper at first.

"Was I the only one who didn't know?" he came over and began shaking me.

"Tidus stop, that hurts!" I let the tears fall.

"Tell me why! Why were you hiding it? Why didn't I know?" I shook my head. For once Wakka backed me up.

"We weren't hiding it ya..."

"It was just...too hard to say."

"Lulu! How could you? How could you? Isn't she like a sister to you? I thought you were family! Why don't you do something, Wakka?" Lulu and Wakka tried to talk some sense into him.

"Don't you think we tried to stop her? She follows...her heart."

"Yuna, she knew what she was doing when she chose to become a summoner. To face Sin, ya? Yuna knew!" Rikku let go of me and wiped her eyes.

"But Wakka, that's just totally wrong! Summoners shouldn't have to sacrifice themselves...just so the rest of Spira can be happy, right?" I watched the pryeflies as they touch my bare flesh. I put my hands on my face and just sobbed. The man in robes spoke into the silence.

"But that is our choice..." The lady summoner spoke this time.

"We all live in fear of Sin. You know that." I looked up.

"A world without Sin... That is the dream of all Yevon's children. And we will use that power, even if it means our lives!" They began to summon their Aeons, Valefor and Ifrit. An image of a smiling Yuna flashed in my mind. I shook it away and hugged Tidus from behind.

"And I've been telling Yuna... Let's go to Zanarkand together! Let's beat Sin! I told her all the things we could...we could... And all along, the whole time, I didn't know anything! But Yuna, she'd...just smile." The image came back to me after Tidus said this. Valefor came over to comfort Tidus and me.

"Tidus," he turned around. "Don't worry, we'll find her. We as guardians won't let her die!" The building shook. "Quick! Everyone to the airship!" I knew my leg was bleeding again, but I didn't care. All that mattered was getting Yuna back.

* * *

Cid brought up the front shouting in Al Bhed. "Hu desa! ku, ku ku!" (No time! Go, go go!). I arrived on deck to hear Brother and him shouting back and forth.

"Drnaa sehidac mavd!" (Three minutes left!)

"Rinno, rinno! Oui ryja uha sehida!" (Hurry, hurry! You have one minute!) Tidus found Cid and tried to talk to him.

"Where's Yuna?" Cid continued to speak in my native tongue.

"Ajanouha uh puynt." (Everyone on board?) The other crewmembers replied.

"Ajanouha ymeja!" (Everyone alive!) Tidus repeated himself.

"I said, where is she?" he grabbed Cid. "Answer me! Answer me, damn you!"

"What'll you do when you find her, eh?" We all just watched the angry conversation.

"I didn't know anything about what a summoner is supposed to do. And I told her all those things without even knowing. I've got to tell her. I've got to tell her I'm sorry!"

"That's it? You're gonna tell her you're sorry? And then you just drag her to Zanarkand and make her fight Sin, huh? You're all the same -- let the summoner die so we can live in peace!" Cid threw him to the deck. Tidus stood back up. (Throws Tidus to the deck)

"No! I'm not gonna let Yuna die!"

"Hah! Words! Show me action!"

"I'm telling you, she won't die!"

"Boy, don't forget those words, 'cause if you do...I'm gonna make you regret it."

"I won't. So you know where she is?"

"'Course not. That's why we're gonna look! Using this airship!" I giggled at Wakka's reaction.

"A-Airship?"

"Vydran! Nayto du ku!"(Father! Ready to go!)

"Oaaryy! Y vmekrd 1000 oaync ujantia!" (Yeehaa! A flight 1000 years overdue!) We felt the ship move and shake and the hanger began to open. Brother shouted. And Cid replied.

"Fruy! Ed sujac!" (Whoa! It moves!)

"Necg pek, feh pek!" (Risk big, win big!) Cid and Brother pulled several levers and pushed buttons. Pretty soon the ship took off into the sky.

"Fruy! Ed vmeac!" (Whoa! It flies!)

"Haqd fa ica dryd!" (Next, we use that!)

"Frydajan oui cyo." (Whatever you say.) Brother said glumly. Several people on the crew began to sing the Hymn. Once again the tears made their way to my eyes. I ran over to Cid.

"Oui lyn'd!" (You can't!) I punched him. He turned around. "Fa lyh veq ed! Fa lyh-" (We can fix it! We can-) He shook his head and went back to work. i gritted my teeth.

"What's goin' on ya?" I walked over to Rikku and saw that tears we're trailing down her cheeks as well. I couldn't find the words, so she spoke for the both of us.

"We're...we're going to blow up our Home." she took my hand and held it tight. We stood their silently, just staring at the ground. Lulu questioned.

"How?" Cid gladly answered.

"With one of the forbidden machina! Nayto? Vena!"(Ready? Fire!) We all watched as the missiles were fired and headed straight for HOME. My tears just ran down my cheeks as I watched. Cid kicked the ship into high gear and we barely outran the blast from the missiles. He stood back and just laughed. The audacity. "Gah-hah-hah-hah! Nadinh du cyht!"(Return to sand!) I saw that even Brother was bawling. "Hu haat vun daync! Fryd ec kuut ypuid sylrehy, ec drao lyh pa piemd yhaf, oui caa?"(No need for tears! What is good about machina, is they can be built anew, you see?) Wakka tried to cheer Rikku and me up.

"Hey, look. Don't get so down. Boom!" he laughed. Rikku formed fists at her side. I put on an angry scowl. "Like happy festival fireworks, ya?"

"You can cram your happy festival, you big meanie!" It was my turn to speak after Rikku.

"Oac. Nekrd ib ouin ass." (Yes. Right up your ass.) I knew he understood me. I wanted to be left alone so I left the deck and decided to look around the ship. It seemed Tidus understood as well.

* * *

I waded through the sea of the injured people. My arms crossed and eyes downcast. I didn't want to see their blood. To be honest, I can't stand the sight of blood, not even my own.*hmmm…you'd think she'd be passing out every waking moment, considering how many times I've made her get hurt. Heh heh…* Soon all of the voices and commotion in that hall faded as I delved into my thoughts even further. I thought back to the statement earlier. Why was I so worried about Gippal? If it had been Tidus, would I have reacted the same way? All these thoughts brought the tears back to my eyes and they began to roll down my cheeks. For some reason I felt a strong wind. I came out of my thoughts and noticed that I had wondered up to the roof of the ship. Good. No one could see me crying. I just let the tears fall and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw that it was the very person that I wanted to see.

"You know, you shouldn't cry. It doesn't look good on you." I hugged him. "Aaah! Watch it. I am injured you know." He said with a smile.

"Gippal, I was worried that you had-" I shook my head. "I'm just glad you're okay." I let go, Gippal held me there. I felt him take in my scent and then he whispered in my ear.

"I still can't forget what you said in HOME that day. It keeps repeating itself. It's just so hard you know? Loving someone you can't have." I felt my face get hot. The next thing I knew, he was placing lavished kisses on my ear, my neck, my collar bone, and finally a kiss on my lips. I hugged him and sadly I let go, forgetting about Tidus for a few brief moments. I returned the kisses several times, but then reality came crashing down hard. I pushed on his chest and broke our little kissing session off. I knew the color had drained from my face. My mouth opened and closed. "Sana I-" He stepped closer and tried to take my hand and I smacked him across the face. My lip quivered and I ran off. I heard him call my name.

"Sanako!" I ignored it and left him standing on the roof. I put a hand over my mouth. What have I done!? What am I going to do!? I kept running until I had reached my room, slamming the door shut. The tears once again began to cascade down my cheeks. But the thought that was on the tip of my mind was, what was I going to tell Tidus?

* * *

Knock. Knock. Knock. I sat up in my bed. A little dizzy at the moment. 'How did I-' I put my hand to lips. That's right. I still felt a slight tingle, but not like the ones Tidus would give me after a kiss. Those made my whole body hurt, not pain, but a good hurt. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Who is it?" a cool, mature voice answered.

"It's Lulu. May I come in?"

"Do whatever you want." I lay back down and pulled the blankets over my head. I heard the door open and close. I felt the weight shift at foot of the bed.

"So, where have you been? You've been missing for over an hour." I didn't answer because I felt the lump in my throat coming back. "Okay then…I guess I'll have to do this…" my eyes widened. She began to run her fingers up and down my sides. I began to laugh and kick my feet. "Are you ready to give up yet?" tears left my eyes from laughing so hard. I fought to breathe and speak at the same time.

"Y-yes! Y-yes! Please st-stop!" Lulu relented and pulled the blankets off of my head. I wiped away my tears and hugged my knees. Then I buried my head in my knees.

"Sana? What's wrong?" I knew she had that motherly face on now. I felt her begin to rub my back and that's what did it. I began to sob profusely. I felt her pull me close. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong." She spoke the same words that I had uttered to Rikku back in Bikanel. I hesitated, but I needed to tell someone, even if I wasn't really close to them.

* * *

Lulu and I rejoined the others after our talk. She whispered to me. "Tell him as soon as possible. If he truly loves you, he'll understand and he'll forgive you." I hugged her and she gasped because it was unexpected.

"Thanks Lulu." She hugged me back.

"You're welcome." I went over and stood next to Rikku. I meant to stand by Tidus, but I found myself trying to avoid him. His gaze, everything. I knew sooner or later, that I would have to face him. I wouldn't blame him if he wants to break up. I tried to focus on my father's conversation with Cid. Slowly my ears opened up to the arguing match.

"…I'll make her give up being a summoner quicker than a desert melts ice!"

"Even against her will?"

" Better than a dog's death! And I'll take down anyone who don't agree!"

"You are the captain."

"Good! Then it's settled!" I watched my father go and lurk in a corner of the hallway. Cid continued his search for Yuna, while we all stood there, waiting for her to be found. Waiting…waiting so we could rescue her and then be able to finish our quest to save the world of Spira.

* * *

well, there you have it! you've been waiting a long time for that and i hope it was to your guys' liking! let me know what you think. it may be a while before i can get the next one up. i'm trying to work on two other stories at once. one i have already posted. it's my newest one and one i have yet to start typing. if you want to read the one that is posted here is the title.

Degrassi the Next Generation: Shiloh's story.

The other one is going to be a fanfiction for the manga/anime of Pretear. Best show ever! i've already finished the anime, now i just gotta read the rest of the books.

write at you later!

zutarafn1


	13. Bevelle Part 1

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a loooooonnnngggg time…Just a heads up, please don't be upset about the wedding part…I wanted something to really stick out. Ya know, give this chapter and story an extra KAPOW!!! If you don't like the part with what I did at the wedding, you can send a comment saying you didn't like it or you did, just please don't be mean…if there are more who didn't like it, in the revised version, I'll change it back, if there are more who did like it or were neutral, then I'll keep it in the revised version of this story. Thanks for reading and reviewing and sticking with me on this project! X3

One more thing *final fantasy victory fanfare*

I lied…this chappy is split up into two or three parts…so bear with me… X3

* * *

Bevelle Part 1 

Another hour passed. Nothing. We hadn't found Yuna yet. I decided find Gippal and explain. Explain why I had run like that. But really and honestly why did I run away like that? I wasn't even sure. Why was I trying to find him anyway? It would just cause more trouble. I shook my head knowing this was a bad idea, but I needed to make sure that he didn't hate me. Of course knowing that pirate, he didn't. Gip would probably hate the fact I called him a pirate. Tidus caught me right before I was going to search for Gippal. "Hey, how's my girl?" he asked wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me in tightly. I put my hands on his shoulders. He gave me a bright toothy smile.

"I'm fine. I just need some fresh air." I lied. I felt him place a kiss on my lips and I felt him wanting me to return it. I couldn't do it. Why couldn't I kiss him? I wanted to, but I couldn't do it. He released his kiss. I looked into his bright blue eyes and he seemed worried.

"What's wrong?" I pushed his chest and made him let go. I held my position holding him an arm lengths distance, head hanging low. "Sanako?"

"I'm fine," I began to shake. "I-I just need to be alone for a while." I stood up straight and put on a meek smile. I could tell he didn't want to let me go, but he knew it was better than forcing me to stay. I hugged my self and walked out of the Bridge area. I began passing the injured Al Bhed and just kept telling myself to stay calm. After fifteen minutes of searching, I broke down and asked and Al Bhed elder helping a young child.

"Ryja oui caah Gippal?"(Have you seen Gippal?) The Al Bhed pointed in the direction that he was or had been seen in. I bowed, showing respect.

"Dryhg oui."(Thank you.) I rounded the corner and saw him laughing and talking with some friends. I began to shake again, but kept moving and came up behind him quietly. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and seemed almost shocked to see me again. I smiled meekly once again and nodded, signaling that I wanted to take a walk, but to where exactly? We're on a ship for machina's sake! He nodded, understanding I wanted to talk. He said good bye to his friends and then we headed down the hallway, where the people were less and less by the moment. At first we were silent and he was holding my hand. I didn't shrug it away, it was oddly enough what I needed, but he wasn't holding it in a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of way, but in an "I'm there for you" friend kind of way. We found an empty place down a little ways so we could talk in private. We sat down and Gippal continued to hold my hand. He began rubbing my thumb the way Ti would do when I was upset.

"Gip, earlier, I shouldn't have-"I stopped.

"No. I shouldn't have. That was not right. Not as a friend. More specifically not as a gentleman." I could tell he was being genuine about this. I saw the earnestness in his eye and the seriousness he had.

"I have to tell him you know." he nodded, keeping his gaze on the wall in front of him, just as I was doing. "I don't want to, he'll probably be mad, but I have to tell him." Truth be told, I was worried. I didn't want Tidus to hunt Gippal down and beat him up.

"You're worried he's going to beat me up. Am I right?" I looked over to find he was staring at me.

"Yeah." he patted me on the head, closed his eyes, and smiled.

"Don't worry, I won't engage in a fight. Although I will let him get a couple of hits in. You know to let him get it out of his system." I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Gip." I lifted my head up. I could do it. Just once. I stood up and Gippal followed. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "That was a thank you for being understanding you benyda." (Pirate)I smirked. His mouth dropped and I tried to run away, but he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. I couldn't stop laughing.

"You give up yet!?"

"I'm sorry! Please put me down!" he put me down slowly, letting my feet touch the ground before he dropped me abruptly. I lost my balance but caught myself. I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"That's what you get for calling me a pirate." he lifted up his eye patch and sure enough, there was an eye there that matched his other one. I walked over and took the eye patch off of his head. "H-hey! Give that back! It makes me look more dashing. It attracts the ladies!" I shook my head and stuck the patch in my pocket.

"You look better without it. Like a normal human being." I watched him turn around quickly. "Gippal, what is it?"

"It's nothing." I walked around and saw he was blushing like mad. I pointed and began to laugh. "What?" I stifled my laughing.

"Poor Gippy's embarrassed." I turned around and felt him grab me from behind and started twirling me around. He laughed and had that bright smile now.

"I was not embarrassed." we stopped twirling, but he continued to hold me from behind. Someone came around the corner. I knew that they had the wrong idea. That someone was my boyfriend. Tidus.

* * *

"Sanako what are-"I ran over to him and put my hands on his chest to keep him from moving. He kept staring at Gippal coldly.

"Tidus look at me." he didn't. I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me. "Tidus nothing happened. Gippal and I are close friends. Nothing else." I knew every word I spouted was stinging my friend, but it was the truth.

"You two seem a little too close for comfort Sanako!" he shouted at me. I was scared. He had never shouted at me before. If any time was right, I needed to tell him now.

"Tidus, I-I," I paused. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"What is it?" he seemed kinder now. What the hell? Was my boyfriend bipolar or something!? Anyway, that's beside the point.

"I-I kissed him." I felt his body go tense. "I'm sorry it just happened." I saw his face go rigid and he began to grit his teeth.

"Just like it's going to just happen when you "accidentally" sleep with him too?" he formed fists at his sides.

"Tidus I wouldn't!" I felt the tears form. All I hoped for was that Gippal wouldn't say anything. Too late.

"It wasn't her fault."

"Oh really?" Tidus furrowed his eyebrows. "Then whose fault was it?"

"Mine. I was the one who kissed her." Tidus seemed to glide right over to Gippal and punched him in the face. Then he let out a fury of punches into Gippal. Gip just stood there taking it like he said he would. He didn't deserve this, even if he said he did.

"Tidus! Stop! Stop it!" I tugged on his arm and he threw me on the ground. The tears began to fall. He stopped, realizing what he had just done. He stooped down to my level to help me up. Gippal just stood there. I looked at him, signaling for him to leave with my eyes and he did so. Tidus tried to take my hand, but I pulled it away.

"Yuna I'm-"

"What did you just say?" my tears now were the result of anger. He then realized what he had just done.

"Sanako I didn't mean-"I smacked him across the face.

"Not in love with her huh!? Then why call your girlfriend by her name!?" I jumped up and ran off, leaving Tidus with nothing but his thoughts.

* * *

I just kept running and crying my heart out. I didn't watch where I was going and I ran into someone. I fell backwards and landed on my butt hard and fast. I looked up at the person through my tears. It turned out to be Wakka. "Sanako. What's wrong ya?" he stooped down. I shook my head, unable to get the words out because of the lump in my throat. Wakka did the unexpected and picked me up. "I'm gonna take you to ya room okay?" I nodded still weeping uncontrollably. He never asked what exactly what was wrong. He took me to my room and set me down on the bed. I watched through tears as he unlaced my shoes and set them on the ground. He stood up and put a blanket around my shoulders. "I'm gonna send someone to sit wit you." he let out a chuckle. "I'm afraid I'm not good wit dis type of thing." he was trying to cheer me up. He was almost out of the room when I spoke.

"Thanks Wakka." the tears still rolled down my cheeks. He smiled and then stepped out. I lay down and turned my back to the door and just stared at the wall, just crying. How could this happen? It wasn't supposed to be like this! Why does everything in my life go awry!? I just continued to sob. A few moments later, I heard someone come in.

* * *

"Sanako?" I only cried in response to Lulu. She sat behind me and began to rub my back. "We found her. She's in Bevelle. We're headed there now, but somehow I get the feeling that's not we need to be talking about." I sat up and hugged her. I could feel she was surprised. She turned me around to where my back was towards her and she pulled me into her lap. Lulu rested her chin on the top of my head. I knew exactly what she was doing. She was holding me like-like mom used to. That's the one thing I can remember about my real mom. She would hold me like this after I fell down or got hurt. My throat was sore and my eyes stung.

"Now tell me what happened." Lulu listened as I told my story, comforted me when I cried.

"I'm tired of everything going wrong in my life…I'm so confused. I really love Tidus-"

"You have mixed feelings don't you? Especially since with what Tidus did to you. I swear the next time I see him…let's say something will be missing." I choked.

"Lulu don't…" she laughed and shook her head.

"I won't…but if he ever hurts you again…I will do something." I put my face in my hands.

"I just don't know what to do." I am still in love Tidus or did I-I fall in love with Gippal? I heard Lulu sigh and then place her hands on my shoulders.

"Take your time. I know it sounds like measly advice, but it helps. Just sort through your feelings. Everything will work out. Besides, that stupid boy in the yellow shirt won't stay mad forever." she tapped my nose. "You've been friends much longer than being boyfriend and girlfriend, there are bound to be speed bumps during the switching process." I put my hands over mouth and began to blush furiously. I saw Lulu begin to laugh.

"…" I couldn't bring myself to say anything about that insinuating comment.

"See there. You're feeling better already, since your mind's in the gutter isn't it?" my mouth dropped.

"Is not!" I crossed my arms and stuck out my bottom lip. The ship shook and I fell off the bed. "What was that?" Lulu shrugged. "Stay there…" Lulu wasn't usually one to take orders from others but she listened this once. I went to the door and cracked it open. My eyes widened in shock. I closed the door back. I ran over and pulled my shoes on, not even going to worry about lacing them up.

"What is it?" she asked calmly.

"A ton of fiends and Guado stowed away on the ship!" she jumped up. "It looks like we'll have to fight our way to the others!" she nodded. We readied ourselves and then busted out into the middle of a fight. Looks like we wouldn't have to wait for the others.

"Bout time you two showed up!" Tidus shouted. I felt my anger return. Now I knew some of what was wrong. I was angry with him. Knocking me to the ground, calling me…Yuna. I gritted my teeth.

"Whatever! Just fight!" I shouted. We ran all over the ship fighting fiends and Guado. One time, I saw Gip leading children and adults out of danger, but I had to remain focused. We had reached the airship cabin to see a large fiend flying parallel to the ship.

"Please don't tell me…" I started out.

"Huh, now there's a rare sight." my father said all too calmly.

"Whoa, that's huge!" Tidus said, I saw him shaking a little with fear.

"What is that?" Rikku said almost in a whisper and Lulu answered her question.

"The guardian wyrm, Evrae. The great sacred beast-- protector of Bevelle!" my father smirked.

"The red carpet has teeth."

"Wait, that means we're close to Bevelle!" The blonde haired boy shouted. Just then Cid came over the intercom.

"Rikku, Sanako you read me? We're gonna fight that thing! Get on deck and show him what you got! Go!" I rolled my eyes. Rikku apparently read my thoughts.

"There he goes again."

"The ferryman asks a high price." Auron said adjusting his sunglasses.

* * *

I was the one that brought up the tail end of the group when we arrived on the Deck of the Airship. We stood there and in the distance saw Evrae. Cid's voice crackled over the intercom.

"We gotta keep our distance, boys, but we can't let her get too far away. You all have to tell me when to move! But tell me quick, eh? This rig ain't so nimble, you hear?" Tidus shouted.

"Roger! I'll give the commands!" Rikku stood with her hands on her hips.

"Not alone, you won't!" I said nothing. I stayed quiet, still upset at Tidus, but trying to think on our present obstacle. The first command that was shouted was to go near the dragon. Cid replied.

"Hold on! Don't be falling now!" the ship shifted and I fell onto one knee. Tidus tried to help me up but I glared at him and yanked my arm away.

"I can stand on my own Ti." I whipped out my weapons and braced myself. I looked the dragon head on. We would attack and then switch between commands, shooting off missiles in between attacks. I went into overdrive, delivering the last blow to Evrae, sending it to its demise. The ship began to dip. Everyone felt the dramatic shift in altitude.

"Brother! Fryd'c fnuhk fedr dra yencreb!?"(Brother! What's wrong with the airship!?) I shouted. I heard his voice come over the speaker.

"Fa'na mucehk bufan!" (We're losing power) Then we heard Cid shout in Spiran.

"Hey! I see Bevelle!" We began to plummet towards Bevelle, the pyreflies of Evrae swirling around us. As we got closer we shot cables off of the ship. We all jumped on them and began sliding down. We avoided gun shots. As soon as we landed on the ground, Cid's ship released the cables and flew off, leaving us to take care of business.

* * *

I saw Seymour, Mika, and Yuna watching us fight to reach them. We chopped down several Guado and machina.

"Yuna!" Tidus shouted. I began to come up with a plan. The others might not approve, but it was worth a shot. Anything to help Yuna complete her pilgrimage. I just had to wait for the right moment. "Stay right there Seymour!" We reached the bottom of the steps. I heard another Maester shout and then I squeaked when he trained a rifle on Tidus.

"This has gone far enough!" My father put his arm in front of Tidus.

"Stop!" he said furrowing his good eyebrow. Yuna produced her staff from behind her gown, looking at Seymour defiantly. Seymour chuckled and held his hand out.

"You would play at marriage just for a chance to send me? Your resolve is admirable. All the more fitting to be my lovely wife." He smiled maliciously. Maester Mika spoke in a firm tone to Yuna.

"Stop! Do you not value your friends' lives? Your actions determine their fate. Protect them... or throw them away. The choice is yours." Yuna dropped her summoner's staff.

"You are wise. " If I was going to put my idea into motion, now was the time. I shouted.

"Seymour, wait!" my heart began to race. I saw the blue haired man turn back around and look at me. I closed my eyes and made fists

"Yes, desert flower?" My eyes opened back up.

"Let-let me take Yuna's place!" I heard him chuckle and everyone in our travel group gasp. Tidus looked at me in awe.

"You can't!" he shouted at me. I looked away from his gaze.

"Why would you even care, you're in love with Yuna aren't you?" this shut him up. I knew that I had hurt Tidus' heart some. Seymour came down the stairs, pulling Yuna and then shoving her towards Wakka. He caught her before she could fall. I felt his hand take mine. It was ice cold.

"Before this happens, what do you have to offer me?" I remember Cid saying something to me one day at Home. He told me that I was going to be the leader of the Al Bhed, after Rikku of course or if she had to go away on business. I spat that first thing that came to my mind.

"I'm in line to be the leader of the Al Bhed." I heard Rikku yell.

"Sanako! No!" I looked at her and mouthed, "Don't worry. I won't tell him you're first in line. I promise." She nodded. I saw the Guado man smile, but not in a nice way. He closed his eyes and muttered something. I was surrounded by a glow and so was Yuna. I opened my eyes and found I was in a wedding dress; Yuna was in her usual Summoners outfit. My heart began to pound. I didn't want to do this, but I would do anything to be a good guardian, even if it was to take her place. I noticed he had his arm out. I took it, my hands shaking. We walked up the stairs at a slow, but graceful pace.

"What is your name young one?" I felt no air in my lungs. From him calling me "Young one"? From the dress maybe? Probably not.

"S-Sanako." I saw him smile and then speak again.

"Sanako, as long as you do as I tell you, your friends will live." We made it to the top step. We stood facing the priest. The priest spoke.

"Face each other." We turned and faced one another and Seymour lifted my veil, revealing my styled hair and make up covered face. I glanced over at my friends, knowing I had a scared look on my face. They all looked…how would I describe it? Tidus looked the worst of them all. Angry and saddened at the same time. I looked back at Seymour. He placed his hands on my shoulders and smirked. The priest came up on the last part of the ceremony.

"Do you Seymour, take this young woman, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I Do." He said maliciously. Now it was my turn.

"Do you Sanako, take this man, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" my mouth open and closed and looked over at my group once more. I saw my father. He knew what I was trying to do and he understood that, but I could tell that he didn't want to give his daughter away. Not like this. I looked back at Seymour and closed my eyes to make my answer easier.

"I-I do." After seeing a share of weddings, I knew what was coming.

"By the power invested in me, you may now kiss the bride." I opened my eyes to see him leaning and he stopped. He wanted me to lean the rest of the way. I knew I had to, for my friends lives. I did and felt our lips touch. My fists at my sides shook. I heard my friends gasp and knew they were horrified. The wedding bells began to ring, signifying that we were…that we were…married. He pulled me close with one arm as tight as he could. I saw a wicked smile appear on his face.

"Kill them."

"You promised!" I saw Kinoc and the warrior monks take aim at my friends.

"Be quiet!" he squeezed my cheeks. I felt his nails digging into my cheeks, and then small trials of warm liquid, blood, run down my face. "Or you shall suffer the same fate." He kept his hold on my cheeks, showing me, if I moved, Seymour's nails would dig deeper. Kinoc spoke.

"I am sorry, but it is for Yevon." I watched out of the corner of my eye.

"Aren't those weapons forbidden by Yevon?" I heard my father trying to stall. I saw Kinoc shift from my boyfriend, technically not my boyfriend anymore because of Seymour, to my father. My breathing quickened. I prayed that my boyfriend and friends would be safe after I figured out what I could do to help them.

"There are exceptions." I got my chance. I elbowed my husband in the stomach. He growled at me. I stepped a good couple of feet away from him.

"Make them throw down their weapons! Let them go, or else...or else I'll-"I pulled out one of my daggers and held it to my neck. I heard Seymour gasp. I had got him right where I wanted him. I was no use to him if I was dead. I shouted at my friends. "Leave now! Please!" Tidus argued with me.

"You're coming with us!" I still held the dagger at my neck, but felt the tears forming in my eyes.

"Don't worry! Just go!" I saw something move, but I didn't move quickly enough. Seymour had taken one of his guards' guns and hit me in the back of the head. The last thing I could see or hear was my friends shouting more clearly Rikku.

"Cover your eyes!" I knew she had thrown a flash bomb. Then I passed out, not knowing what will become of me.

* * *

Whew! Now i gotta work on the other parts. Another thing like i mentioned earlier, don't be mad about the larger fights, like i said, i'll be doing a revised version of the story, longer battle scenes with more details, more scenes between Gippal and Sanako, etc...things like that. Please Review and tell me what you thought! *salute*

write at ya later

zutarafn1


	14. Bevelle Part 2

Bevelle Part 2

"Ugggghhh….my…head…." I slowly came out of consciousness. I tried to lift my head up, but it was no use. I was still out of it. I close my eyes for a few minutes and then I was able to lift my head up. I felt my wrists being constricted and being rubbed raw. I turned my head and saw that I had been shackled to the wall, in a very dingy prison cell. I had been shackled a few good feet from the ground so that I couldn't escape. I felt my arms going numb from lack of circulation. I wiggled my fingers and that helped a bit. I realized that my clothing had gone back to what it was before the wedding, but it was damaged and tattered. Holes in my tank top, I now had a sleeveless jacket; my shorts were torn at the waist. They had slid down revealing the elastic of my underwear. The only thing that was in tact and hadn't been torn, were my shoes.

My hair wasn't pinned back and hung in my face. I just closed my eyes and went back to sleep. It was me and the darkness of the prison cell for quite some time. Grrrrrr… My stomach growled. I realized that I hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I heard the door to my smelly cell open and bright enter with it. "Aaahhh!" I flicked my head to the side and closed my eyes to make the light less painful.

"Sorry, I should have realized that your eyes won't adjust that fast." I knew that voice. I couldn't see through my blurry vision from the light induced tears, but I knew that voice.

"Is this what you do to your wives!? Marry them and then let them decay in a prison cell!?" He laughed loudly. I blinked the last of the tears out of my eyes and saw Seymour looking up at me, smirking evilly the way he usually did, three guards standing behind him.

"No, but I knew you would try to escape if I had just locked in your room. Our room I should say."

"Damn straight!!!" He laughed again.

"I think this marriage should be rather interesting. You're rather feisty…" he was able to grab my cheeks from where he was standing. He placed his fingers on the cuts he had placed on my face earlier. I felt the dried blood trails on my cheeks. I stared at his eyes and scowled, gritting my teeth. He took his left hand and smoothed my bangs out of my face.

"You should hold onto your malice, you're prettier that way…"he whispered. He leaned to give me a forceful kiss. I heaved and spat into his face. "You little wretch!" He brought his hand across my face, leaving scratches and blood trails on my right cheek and eyebrow. As Seymour wiped his face, the man sneered. He said something to the guards that I couldn't hear. Before I knew it, the guards unshackled me, turned me around, and put me back in the shackles.

"Where are my friends!?" my voice had become muffled because I was now facing the stone wall.

"They were in a meeting just now, but we've taken care of them…" I knew he was smiling. I heard him talk to one of the guards and then continue talking to me.

"You know, they asked about you…especially that blonde boy…" my eyes widened in shock. "You love him don't you?" I didn't answer; I only put my forehead on the cold stone.

"That's what I thought; well I can't say that your friends will be alive much longer…" I felt my anger build up, but being chained to a wall, I couldn't do a darn thing. My shoulder sockets began to burn from being shackled. I could feel the salt from my sweat stinging my open cuts.

"I have one more gift for you my beautiful wife… You may proceed…" he said to one of the guards.

"Since when have you ever…" I felt a crack hit my back. It felt like my skin was getting ripped off. I screamed out loud. I began to cry as the whip continued to hit my skin. I felt trails of blood flowing down my back, soaking my now ripped jacket, and my tattered shorts, and then running down my legs, into my shoes. The guard switched off with another and continued. They kept switching until Seymour spoke.

"You may stop…I think 100 is enough…" My back was burning so bad like it had been set on fire. "Let her down." They unshackled my wrists, which now had rings around them from being raw. They didn't even stop me from falling from the couple of feet drop. I landed on my back and it took the breath right out of me as soon as I hit the cement. The tears continued to flow even more. I felt the stones embedding themselves into the gashes on my back. I shook severely from the blood loss and I was beginning to get cold. I saw Seymour standing over me.

"That will teach you to defy your husband…if it happens again, I'll make sure you won't be awake when I deal with you myself…" I heard them leave and the cell door squeak shut. I lay there, not being able to move, but I knew I had to push through the pain. I slowly rolled over on to my stomach. I could barely lift my head up without using all of my energy. I noticed a little detail, that wouldn't be noticeable if you were standing. The cell door hadn't been shut all the way.

I continued to let the tears fall, but crawled my way to the door. I had to escape; I would try to meet the others. We hadn't discussed a meeting place after we rescued "her", but I had a pretty good Idea.

* * *

I used the handle of the cell door to pull myself up. I could feel my body rejecting the fact that I wanted to stand up. I felt my eyes roll back into my head, but I shook it off. I didn't want pass out before I even tried to escape. I eased the heavy wooden door open and stopped. Through the crack, I saw a Yevonite guard standing a few feet away. I tried to focus with what little strength that I had and whispered in Al Bhed. "E lymm ibuh dra sekrdo lmuitc, maht sa ouin !"(I call upon the mighty clouds, lend me your power. THUNDAGA!) I heard more than one scream and opened the wooden door the rest of the way and saw I had taken down three guards, not just one.

I hung onto the door so I could get some strength back. Once I felt some had returned, I let go and stood hunched over because of my back. I gazed at my surroundings from my hunched over state and saw that I was the only cell on this floor. I made my way, slowly mind you, to the sign on the wall by the stairs. It read:

DANGER:

This prisoner must be guarded at all times.

Do not allow him or her to escape.

Was I really that dangerous? To the point that I had to be at one of the lowest levels in Bevelle? I sat down on the ground; for once again my strength had left me. Unfortunately, I was sitting by one of the guards I had killed and he was already beginning to decay. But I had an idea. One that would get me out of Bevelle. I took the clothes off the guard that was lying next to me, leaving him in his undershirt and boxers. I slipped on the Yevonite outfit over my own, including my shoes. I took his gun and used it to help me stand up. Now the only problem was, would I be able to get out?

* * *

I made it out of the dungeon and into the courtyard, where a bunch of other soldiers were running around. One bumped into my back and I had to keep from screaming. "Where do you think you're going cadet!?" I used the best guy voice I could muster.

"I'm not sure sir!" I couldn't see his eyes because of his helmet and thankfully he couldn't see through my helmet either. I saw him grit his teeth.

"You're the Macalania scout cadet!!! Go get yourself a Chocobo and head out!!!" He saluted and I returned the gesture. The commander walked away and I breathed a sigh of relief. All though my back was in intense pain from the salty sweat hitting my open sores, which I hoped weren't bleeding through the guard outfit.

Luckily I didn't have to walk to Macalania, but I had to force myself to stay awake. I was on the verge of blacking out from so little rest, food, and the amount of injuries I had taken in the past couple of hours. I saw the exit gate approaching and I was almost through, but two guards stepped in front of my Chocobo.

"ID Please?" I stepped down and I spoke in my guy voice.

"Uh…sure…ID…" They leaned forward as I made it look like I was going to pull it out. Just then, my helmet slid off and rolled away on the ground, stopping at their feet. I looked up and the guards they were shocked. "Heh…heh…heh …heh…uh…oops…"

"You're Maester Seymour's wife!!!" the one on the right shouted. The one on the left spoke.

"Quick, go tell-"I punched him in the face and kicked the other in his unmentionables. I moved as quickly as my back would let me and got back on the Chocobo before I could get recaptured.

* * *

I felt every thing catching up to me and my eyes began to roll back into my head and I slid off the animal, hitting the ground with a large thud. This sent pain coursing through my body. The Chocobo ran off and I could only lay there. I just thought to myself. What could I do? I'm not exactly sure I could get up on my own. At least I was in Macalania. W-wait a second. I know those voices. I rolled off my side and onto my stomach. I had to call help. My voice was quite at first.

"(h-help…m-me…)" I mustered up all up my strength and shouted as loud as I could. "SOMEBODY HELP ME! (R-Rikku, ramb.)"(Help.) I heard two sets of footsteps. I brought my head up to see Yuna and Rikku walking my way. Rikku ran over to me.

"Sanako! You're all right!" she picked me up and held me tight. I grunted with pain. I went into a tearing fit.

"Rikku! Stop! She's hurt!" Rikku let go and let me lean on her while I was on my knees. I saw from the corner of my eye that she was looking at her hands, which were covered in blood.

"Sanako, I'm sorry-"

"It's ok-ay you did-n't know…" I spoke into her shirt. Yuna took me off Rikku's shoulder and very carefully stood me up. I felt her take one of my arms and put it over her shoulders.

"Rikku, help me." she said softly. Rikku took my left arm and put over her shoulders. I had a hard time staying awake.

"Ple-please…get…me… out of this…suit…" my head hung low. I was going in and out of consciousness. I felt my feet dragging on the ground. Yuna spoke.

"We will. We're just so happy that you're okay." I heard her voice wavering because of her tears choking her.

"She's right, you're all that Tidus has been talking about." this made me happy. I felt a change in scenery and saw that we were in a little clove and there were the rest of our friends. I heard Wakka speak.

"Is she all right ya!?" he sounded as if he genuinely cared. I felt the two girls stop.

"She's fine, but we're gonna take her by the water." I felt someone take my chin and lift it up. It was Tidus. I felt him place a light kiss on my lips.

"Sanako, I'm so sorry for the way I acted…"

"It's…okay…" was all I could force out because I was so tired. I heard Yuna ask Lulu to come help and she followed.

* * *

I felt Yuna hold me up straight while Lulu and Rikku took off the soldier clothes, revealing my torn up ones.

"Yunie!" I knew now that they had seen my back. I stood up out of Yuna's arms when I was out of the suit.

"It's-n…nothing…" I went to take a step forward to where we had set up camp, but immediately fell to my knees. Rikku's hand struck the side of my face that was least damaged and it wasn't a soft smack either. I heard Lulu tell Yuna to stay put. That Rikku needed to do this.

"Don't you dare!" I looked her in the eyes. "Don't you dare lie to me like that!" I saw a few trails of tears on her face.

"I don't like it when you do that, when you tell me you're okay, but you're not! I don't want to lose you! Oui bnusecat!"(You promised!) "If you push through with only so much, you'll die! Oui tuh'd fyhd so cecdan du tea!"(I don't want my sister to die!) she rubbed the tears out of her eyes, but they continued to flow down her youthful cheeks. Rikku sat down with her back towards me, crying. I moved my way over to her, and pulled her into my lap and hugged her tightly.

"You're not okay! Just let Yunie and Lulu help you okay?" I rested my chin on the top of her dirty blonde head.

"Okay…I will…" I wiped the tears off her cheeks. She didn't move out of my lap, so I just held her there and comforted her. This was one of those times; I couldn't lie to anyone, not even to myself.

* * *

So what did you think? The next chappy will be conjoined. Bevelle Part 3 and the start of the Calm Lands, But it will be called: The Calm Lands part one. I'll update as soon as i can! Please review and let me know your thoughts or any suggestions that you have for the next chapter, what you would like to see! And I'm sorry if this chapter isn't that long, it will be in the revised version...

One more thing and i just wanna brag a tiny tiny bit. i think i captured Seymour's evil persona with the conversation and what went on in the cell with Sanako. Especially how he said he was going to make sure she was knocked out when he would "deal" with her himself...*shudders and gets mental picture out of mind...* EVIL BLUE HAIRED AS- Jerkface!*shakesfist* Feel free to tell me if i captured his personallity just right for you or if not, i'll get it eventually... X3

zutarafn1 X3


	15. AN: Importantish!

Whoaaaaa….It's been such a long time since I've done anything on Fanfiction and for that I apologize! I've been so busy with college these past two years that I haven't got a chance to write a single thing! And I told myself that I would be responsible and update all the time…**sigh** Once again I apologize for not updating, but onto better news, I'll be picking up Fanfiction again and hopefully finishing this story as well as others that I have written. As well as maybe starting new ones when the others are finished or fixing up mistakes and making revisions…But be sure to be on the lookout for updates on other stories and this one for those who are avid watchers and such. Be writing at you soon!

Zukofn1 :D


	16. Macalania Part 2

Okie dokie, first things first; reason why I haven't been writing fanfics for a few years is I've been really busy with college and other situations that didn't give me much time to write.

Secondly; I'm so sorry if this chapter is horrible, I'm a little rusty since I haven't worked on this story in a few years. I re-read everything that I wrote over the past two days to get caught back up. I didn't realize how much I had wrote! But I had to improvise with chapter because this place in the script for Final Fantasy X is much different for Yuna and Tidus, so I tried to be original with scenes between Sanako and the other characters; especially Tidus.

Let me know what you think of it and I hope you enjoy it and I'm sorry if it takes a while for the next chapter to be put up; it's the Calm Lands next and well, if you have played the game you know how they are. It can be a little boring haha…but anyway I'll stop talking and let you start reading for real now!:D

One last thing, you also will finally find out what happed to Sanako's adoptive parents and why she lives alone in Zanarkand!

**Final Fantasy Victory Fanfare**

* * *

Macalania Part 2

Rikku eventually stopped crying and I sent her to join the others, Lulu and Yuna stayed. I wished that Yuna had gone though. I was glad that she was safe, but I still resent her. I felt as though she was taking my Tidus from me, but something else inside myself told me that I needed to trust her. I just didn't know which side to listen to. Yuna sat down next me and Lulu was a little ways off to the side by the water. She then helped me to take off my jacket, which now had some holes in it from the lashing I took from Seymour and my shirt, revealing my bra.

"Here." She crossed her legs and gestured. I lay down slowly down on my front and put my head her lap. I flinched because of the pain of my back and the stones that were inside the slashes on my back. She began to run her fingers through my hair to relax me.

"I'm so glad that you're safe Sanako." Her voice began to waver again. "You're such a great friend…I don't know what I'd do if I lost you again like when we were little." I heard her sniffle.

"Yuna…" my lip quivered. "Please don't cry. I'm here now and it's all gonna be okay." I knew that she was nodding. Lulu then walked over after our short conversation and began to clean out my wounds.

"Sana, this may hurt a little." I felt her beginning to take the small stone fragments out of my back. Hot tears ran down my cheeks from the pain and I could feel Yuna continually running her fingers through my hair to calm me like I did to Rikku if she ever got upset. I flinched every time the dark haired woman pulled out the small stones. "Last one…" I heard her drop the small pebble on the ground. "Alright, Yuna." I felt Yuna lightly put her hands on my back and then a warm wave flowed all over my back and I could feel the bleeding stop and the gashes closing up.

"This should help, but I'm afraid you'll be sore for quite some time…" Yuna said as she continued to heal my back. "I'm also afraid there will be some scaring as well…" I could hear the sadness in her voice about this. She didn't want me to have to remember what had been done to me in Bevelle, I didn't either, but it also reminded me that Seymour had to be stopped.

"It's quite alright…" I said talking into her knees. "It just means we must stop _him_ so no one else has to go through this." I practically heard her nod. I heard the water slosh and Yuna finished healing me and helped me to sit on my knees. I felt my lip tremble as she looked into my eyes. "Thank you so much, for everything." I hugged her tight and she returned the gesture doing her best not to hurt my sore back. I saw Lulu come over with a wet rag and I felt her wiping my back to get rid of the dried blood. She finished and tossed it. I stood up and put my shirt back on. The other two stood up as well.

"Well…" Lulu started out, "I think we should go back to the camp."

"I think I'm going to stay here and think for a while." My body ached, my open cuts on my face stung as if to let me know that they were still there. Thankfully they weren't as bad as my back and didn't need Yuna's healing.

"Alright then." Yuna said softly and she placed a hand on my shoulder. "You know where to find us." she smiled and then she and Lulu walked off back to camp.

I just stood there, looking at the water. This area was just so full of colors and it was calming. It took all my thoughts, set them all aside, and gave me a few moments peace. My back twinged from the soreness as I slid my shoes off. I walked into the water and the coolness of the water began to wrap its arms around me as if offering endless love. I went under and swam around, taking in all the underwater colors. I went back up for air and shook my head, my hair now clinging to my cheeks and my neck. I looked at the tree in the center and then heard a small twig crack. My eyes were now upon a figure behind me. He didn't look much like the child that I knew before we left Zanarkand, he was growing up. He was becoming the man I knew he always would. I waved at him to come in and I watched as he took off his shoes and his yellow jacket revealing how in shape he was. Tidus just let his overall straps hang at his sides and he waded into the water and swam over to me. We just floated in silence and from his expression; I could tell he was deep in thought. He looked down at the water and then back at me. I knew right then, he was trying to apologize for what happened on the airship and I hugged his neck, letting him know that it was all right and that I was sorry as well. I'm not sure what I was sorry for, but it didn't matter. I continued to hug him as we bobbed up and down in the water.

"…I'm scared Ti…" I felt him brush a few strands of wet hair out my face. He looked me in the eyes, letting me know that he was trying to understand.

"How so?" I paused, trying to put my words into sentences.

"I always thought that this would be easier somehow…being a guardian…" I paused. I watched the wheels turning in his head.

"It only seems that way. You've been pushing yourself to protect her. Remember that the other's and I are here too."

"That's not it, I mean…getting to close to everyone…to Yuna."

"…" he said nothing because he knew what I meant. She was going to die in the end. As sad as it was, I hated myself for remembering that she was a friend from long ago, getting close to her once again. I didn't want anyone else I was close to die like my adoptive parents. There was also another reason I didn't want to get close to the people here, Tidus and I were one day, going to go home. That means we would never see anyone from Spira again. I didn't want to have deep hole in my heart that would never be filled from not being able to continue those friendships.

"Sana…You shouldn't be afraid…" Tidus started out calmly. "You shouldn't be afraid to make friends here and enjoy the time we all have together. You're allowed to be happy." I laughed to myself. My boyfriend had a point, I never allowed myself a moments peace until everyone else was happy. "Forget all that, just let go." He gave me a smile and I returned it.

"Yeah, you're right." I wrapped my arms around his neck now, instead of his middle. I nestled my head into his neck. "Ti, you always knew how to cheer me up." I lifted my head up and looked into his eyes, him into mine.

"What can I say; I love you too much for you to be sad." He placed his lips on mine and we shared a kiss, and then released it. "We'll be home soon you know." I felt my heart jump out of my chest.

"You're right! Then we can do some things that we used to!" We released the hug, but held onto each other's' hands, wading in the pool.

"I could teach you more blitzball!" he got excited. "Maybe we could even play against each other now, one on one." Tidus flashed me his pearly whites.

"We could walk around and visit the different shops, maybe have some Zanarkand shaved ice." Tidus pulled me closer to him and his face became more serious.

"Let's go to the sea, before the sunrise. The city lights will go out one by one. The will stars fade... Then the horizon will glow, almost like it's on fire. It's kinda rose-colored, right? First in the sea, then it spreads to the sky, then to the whole city. It gets brighter and brighter, till everything glows. It's really...pretty. We could watch it together." I nodded and he placed his hands on my shoulders and I gently wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I'd like that." I placed a kiss on his lips and he placed several on mine as we seemed to float underwater. But we never ran out of air. We kissed for what seemed like years in the starry pool. He released one final kiss and then hugged me gently, remembering my back. We then got out of the pool and just sat down on the shore, our feet still in the water. It was silent until I remembered something that Auron had given me back in Thunder Plains. 'Watch it with Tidus, you two should find it interesting.' His words bounced in my head. I pulled it out of my jacket that was next to me.

"What's that?" Tidus questioned me.

"It's another memory sphere. Auron gave it to me." I had wanted to say dad and Tidus would have known what I meant, but I have called him Auron for so long. I guess it's a habit that will take a while to break. "He told me in Thunder Plains to watch it with you when I got the chance. He said we should find it interesting."

"Let's watch it then." He said scooting closer to me and pressing the play button.

* * *

_Memory_

_"Auron!" Jecht's voice called from his living room, with a small hint of laughter behind it._

_"What is it old man?" A younger sounding Auron shouted back to his friend as he stomped to the living room. He crossed his arms as he stood there in the doorway. "What do you want?" Jecht gave a small laugh and waved his hand. Two children walked in to view; a blonde boy with spikey hair and a yellow shirt and a little girl about a head shorter than the boy. She had short blonde hair and a white shirt on. They were only about 6 or 7. _

_"You should listen to these two, go ahead Tidus tell Auron." Jet__cht could barely contain himself. It was one of the few times that Auron could tell his friend was genuinely tickled about something. Tidus took hold of the young girls hand and looked at Auron with a serious face._

_"We wanna get mawried Uncle Auron." (Married) Now Auron saw why his friend was laughing. Auron kneeled down and looked at the two children._

_"Now why do you two want to get married?" the little girl spoke._

_"Cause, cause then Daddy, Ti and me wuld be together foreber." (would; forever) She smiled at her father and Tidus nodded fervently. Auron gave a laugh at the two children and placed a hand on each of their shoulders._

_"Sounds like a good idea to me Sanako. What about you Jecht?" the man crossed his arms and nodded._

_"That's what I was thinking." He gave a smirk and then the sphere faded to black._

* * *

Tidus and I didn't say anything for what seemed like years. We looked at each other at the same time and both went into a fit of laughter. It was so weird seeing us as kids, let alone Jecht and Auron laughing and actually agreeing on something. I wiped the tears from my eyes and then I felt Tidus take my hand.

"Would that be something you'd want…" Tidus said aloud, not really stating this as a question, but I knew that he wanted an answer. I breathed in deep and he looked over at me.

"I would like to think maybe someday would like to get married." I smiled looking at the stars and then at him. He smiled back at me too.

"Me too…" he gave me another hug, whispering into my ear, his warm breath traveling down my neck, giving me Goosebumps. "Of course, I would want it to be with you…So would you someday?" My heart was in my throat and I felt that all too familiar heat creeping up my neck and nestling itself on my cheeks. He released the hug, placed his hands on my shoulders. I continued to blush, but I replied. My voice felt small because I was so nervous, but I meant what I said.

"I would like that…Yes" I gave him a smile and he smiled back.

"I'd think we better get back to camp…the others might start to wonder…" he wriggled his eyebrows. I playfully hit him on the shoulder. He stood up and then helped me up. We slipped our shoes back on and our jackets and then walked hand in hand back to camp.

"You two took long enough ya." Wakka said as we came into view.

"We were talking and lost track of time." I replied to his statement. Auron walked over to Tidus and I. He looked at me with his one good eye.

"I-I uh…want to talk to you…" he said somewhat stuttering which he never did. I looked over at Tidus and he nodded, squeezing my hand and walking over to talk to Wakka and Rikku.

"What's up daddio?" I teased. He cleared his throat.

"Are you uh alright?" he asked in his gruff voice that matched his stubble.

"I'm much better thanks to Yuna, but just a little sore." For some reason this conversation felt awkward. Auron wasn't usually the one to ask if you were okay, he's the type to tell you to suck it up and keep going. He seemed to look me over and placed on hand on my now dried head.

"You…did good kid." He ruffled my hair and I gave a small laugh. He then turned around and spoke out to everyone. "Enough chatting, we should rest before we head out in the morning." We all went into separate tents and tried to sleep, but that night my dreams had other plans.

* * *

_Dream_

_I was back in my home in Zanarkand with my adoptive parents. We were all around the table having breakfast and talking. All of us finished and I left to go hang out with some friends and Tidus. Of course they asked when I would be home and I said around 3 in the afternoon or so. They smiled and gave me a hug goodbye. I waved and headed out. I had fun with my friends just walking around our bright city. We got a pizza for lunch and shaved ice afterwards; Then we for a few hours at the beach. My friends and I finished at the beach and went our separate ways, except for Tidus and I. We didn't live too far away from one another and it sort of became a tradition that he would walk me home after outings or when I watched the Abes practice._

_"Today was a lot of fun, thanks for inviting me. All of my other friends were busy." Tidus said thanking me with a smile. I nodded._

_"It's no problem, I know what it's like and I didn't want you to sit inside on such a beautiful day." It was silent for a few moments, until Tidus broke it again._

_"…I also have more fun…Uh…" I noticed that he was blushing._

_"Tidus, what is it?" I said with a slight laugh. I hardly ever saw the boy blush._

_"…I mean I always have…a good time…with…you…" he said blushing even harder. I stopped walking and he did as well, turning to face me._

_"That's really sweet Ti." He rubbed the back of his head and gave a laugh. "I feel the same way." I gave him a smile and my heart pounded in my chest. I felt a warm spot forming and knew it was because of my feelings. I was beginning to fall for this boy._

_"Yeah, yeah…Just don't tell the guys on the team. They'll call me ol'softie…" he said jokingly._

_"I won't…Well we should probably hurry up. My parents will be wondering where I am." He nodded and we linked arms and continued heading home._

_"Do you mind if I come in and say hello? Haven't seen your folks in a while." I shook my head._

_"I think that's a good idea, they've actually been__ asking-"My sentence stopped; off in the distance I saw smoke…and it looked…like it was coming from my house. I ran as fast as I could and I heard Tidus calling after me, but I ignored him. I had to make sure. I reached my home and sure enough it was engulfed in flames. My legs begun to shake and my heart was in my throat. My thoughts swirled around in my head, Were my parents inside? Had they gone out? Why was the house on fire in the first place? I walked around to see the car still in the garage._

_"No!" My parents were still inside. "Mom! Daddy!" I went to run inside the house to find them, but I felt a set of arms wrap around my middle. They belonged to Tidus. _

_"Sanako are you crazy! You can't go in there!" my limbs flailed around, trying to get out of his grasp. Tears began to fall down my cheeks._

_"My parents-I have to get them out!"_

_"I called the fire department they'll get them out." I stopped flailing and he turned me around to face him. "They'll get them out, I promise." He pulled me into a hug and I cried into his chest. What he said, never came true, they never got out._

* * *

"Noooo!" I sat up screaming and drenched in sweat, my back reminding me of the soreness from the lashing. I felt an all too familiar lump forming my throat. The dream reminded me of that painful memory that I never tried to think about. It was a constant reminder that the man and woman, who had raised me, besides Auron, were gone. I heard the front of my tent ruffle open and someone's illuminated face came into view.

"Sanako, What's wrong?" It was Tidus and he came further into the tent. "I heard you scream and I was worried." My heart continued to pound in my ears. He sat down next to me in the smallish tent.

"I had a bad dream…" I knew I sound like I was five, but knew Tidus wouldn't judge me for it. "It was about that day back home…" I felt him wrap his arms around my shoulders and I laid my head on his chest. I wrapped my arms around his middle and I felt him place his chin on the top of my head. "…I miss them so much Tidus…" the tears that had been welling up in my eyes trickled down my cheeks.

"I know…I know…" I just let the tears fall and he just held me there for a while until they stopped. We released the hug and I wiped my eyes. I sniffled and cleared my throat.

"Thanks for that…I guess we should try to go back to sleep before it's time to get up…" truth be told I didn't want him to go. I was still afraid that the dream would return. I wanted him to hold me and keep the dream away. "Night…" He was about to leave, but turned back around.

"Sanako, would mind if I stayed? I just want to make sure you'll be alright." It was if he read my mind and I smiled to myself. "…and I missed you."

"No I wouldn't mind." I could see him smiling and he came back over by me. I lay down and he laid down next me, then laying the blanket over us. My back was to him and he wrapped his arms back around me once again and my head rested by the curve of his shoulder.

"Comfortable?"

"Yeah…I love you Tidus." I could almost hear the smile and then I felt him place a kiss on the top of my head.

"I love you too Sanako, and I'll never stop." He gave me a small squeeze, but made sure not to hurt my back. "Sweet dreams."

"You too." That night, I had no more bad dreams. With Tidus being there, I was able to sleep peacefully through the night, having dreams about us and the future we could have together.

* * *

Well, I hoped that you liked it! Let me know what you thought and if you have any ideas or anything you would like to see; shoot me a review or private message and let me know! I apologize if this chapter was a little bland, but once I get back into the swing of things, the chapters should be much better. And don't forget, I plan on doing a revised version of this story! More details, conversations, and etc. Onto working on the next chapter!

Zutarafn1

P.S. forgive me of my spelling mistakes; I just didn't feel like re-reading this chapter again for the 500th time lol :)


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